Height Of My Capacity
by Phracon
Summary: AU. Itachi did not murder his clan but has found another way to measure his capacity. [Chapter 14: “...it’s the same... even here...”]
1. Chapter 1: To Measure My Capacity

Rants: Hello. This is my first entry to the Naruto fic business so please be kind, okay? I'm putting my other fic on hold (it's a Ragnarok Online one) for now while I continue gathering data for that (not the pervie type) and hopefully regain my inspiration to continue that one. This will be AU and probably contain spoilers for chapter 220 and up for the manga. One more thing, Shisui is not my original character, he was mentioned in the manga although he never did made an appearance so I'm kinda making up his character.

* * *

The door opened letting the cool night breeze into the house for a couple of seconds before shutting close once again. Ten year-old Uchiha Sasuke came home considerably late that night coming from his shuriken practice. Though tired and beat up, a smile of satisfaction was etched over his face. 'I managed to hit the target twenty-four times after thirty shots. I'm finally catching up to you brother.'

With his body completely sore, the little boy decided that he desperately needed to change his smelly, dirty clothes with fresh ones and flop down his bed for a much needed rest. He was halfway towards his room when he heard a familiar laughter coming from one of the closed rooms along the corridor.

"Fufufu"

'That's father's voice.'

"Well done Itachi."

Sasuke's eyes grew wide in glee after hearing that. Itachi, the big brother he idolizes and dreams of following the footsteps of, has finally returned after more than two-months of absence, probably coming from some high-rank mission or sorts. Itachi never talked to him about his missions and always treated him like a burden, poking his head and breaking his promise again and again. It obviously pissed Sasuke but then again, it wouldn't be like his big brother at all if he didn't do that. At least Itachi never changed and he was very thankful for that.

Sasuke fought the urge to come barging into the room knowing that his father was also inside. He knew perfectly well how strict his father can be. Sasuke wanted to greet his brother and decided to wait for them to come out from their little talk. However, the next words Sasuke heard made her heart fell.

"Becoming a full-pledged jounin at the young age of fifteen, as expected from my child..."

Sasuke silently wandered away towards the comfort of his room. There, he let his back fall into the bed's soft cushion and stared blankly at the ceiling. 'Brother. Someday I'll become a great shinobi just like you. Then father will finally acknowledge me.'

* * *

A young man wearing a Konoha Police Force uniform was leisurely walking along the paved walkway at the banks of Nakano River. Hands in his pockets, he was talking his time wandering about until he noticed a black-clad teen leaning against the metal railings a small distance away. With a small sigh, he went to approach the person. "Yo!"

"You're late, Shisui." Uchiha Itachi said momentarily shifting his gaze to regard the new comer before looking back into the river.

"No. I'm on time actually. You're just early." Shisui replied taking his place next to Itachi.

Both of them settled to watch the calm waters for minutes of undisturbed silence until Itachi decided to break it. "I'm tired of the duties..."

"What?" said a surprised Uchiha Shisui. Years of hanging around with Itachi has already conditioned him to the boy's attitude. However, this was something that he wasn't expecting to hear something like this from the young prodigy.

"I'm tired of the duties..." Itachi repeated.

Shisui sighed and eased his body against the railings. "It's been what? One year since you've become jounin. The work must be starting to get to you. That's why I always avoided being a member of Anbu at all cost. The pay's not worth all the work." He suggested growing a wide grin.

Itachi, however, maintained his serious demeanor. "Right now the motives and actions of the clan have been purely political. It has been putting more of its attention on raising its position along the ranks of power within the village. Clinging on and being blinded by its name, the clan will never reach its fullest capacity. There is no future for Uchiha. I cannot walk on this path any further."

"So you're saying that you have reached the fullest extent that the clan can give you?" Shisui asked aloud while keeping his eyes peeled on the water below. He could feel Itachi threw a fierce gaze at him.

"Yes." came the boy's reply.

'Well, I really can't blame him. Ever since he became jounin, his father has always been lobbying to the hokage to give high-ranked or crucial missions to him in order to become the useful connection his father has envisioned him to be. I pity the bastard.' Shusui thought while looking at Itachi from the corner of his eyes. 'Well, I guess being a genius does have its downsides after all.' he shrugged at the thought.

"Graduated from the academy at age seven, mastered the sharingan at eight, became chuunin at ten, Anbu squad leader at thirteen and a full-pledged jounin at fifteen. Now sixteen, you are considered to be the best jounin of the village and has become a useful connection for the clan. Honestly, you do have the right to become full of yourself." He said in contempt, shifting his head to the side and met Itachi's deadly glare head on.

Both Uchihas had their sharingan activated and a thick tension filled the air until Shisui turned his eyes down from red to black and gazed back into the river. "To tell you the truth, I don't like the way the clan is being run either so I guess in some way I can tell how you feel."Shisui felt Itachi follow his example, deactivate his own sharingan and watched the waters. "You know, I never see why people envied the sharingan. It's more of a burden if you ask me. Looking at the world through this set of eyes makes simple things look complicated."

"..."

"You don't have to walk the path if you really don't want to. You can always make a turn at the next corner and move towards the destination of your choice."

"You know that it's not as easy as you say," replied Itachi.

"That's what I'm saying. You always make simple things complicated." Shisui said with chuckled lightly. He detached himself from the railings and started to walk down the pathway from which he came earlier on. "Why don't you come with me?"

"Where are we going?" A dumbfounded Itachi asked but followed his friend nonetheless.

"To a place where you can measure your capacity."

The two wandered along the busy streets of Konoha for a few minutes before they reached the gates of the village's Ninja Academy. Shisui immediately took out his badge and flashed it at the chuunin on guard before he could asked them any question and continued walking towards the school's practice grounds.

"What are we doing here?" Itachi asked again.

"You'll see," replied Shisui. He waved at the brown-haired chuunin who was giving instructions to a whole class of young students. "Yo! Iruka! We're sitting in your class for a while."

The said chuunin, Umino Iruka, turned at them for a while and nodded before turning back to the class to introduce the two nins that positioned themselves beside him. "Alright class, today we have visitors who have come to watch your shuriken practice."

At that, the class gasped in awe and began talking to themselves about childish stuff like how they were going to show off to the visitors and such. Iruka hushed the class introduced first the taller man on his right. "This is Uchiha Shisui also known as Shisui of the mirage and works for the Konoha Police Forces." Shisui grinned and waved at the kids at after his instruction and Iruka proceeded on to the next person. "And this is Uchiha Itachi. He is the current Anbu squad leader and is rumored to be the genius among the jounins within the village."

A rain of oohs and applause came from the class after Itachi's introduction. The young jounin rewarded them with a light smile that made almost all the girls in class to blush and giggle, their eyes becoming shaped like hearts, and soon began talking with one another about who among them would eventually marry Itachi in the future.

The boys, most of them, shot daggers at the shorter Uchiha. One of them, a boy with a cute puppy perched over his messy brown head, even said aloud, "Dammit! Why do these girls ogle over that bastard? I'm way more handsome than he is, right Akamaru?" The boy received a bark for a yes from the small pup. Even Shisui was slightly pissed at the reception his friend was receiving. 'Damn that Itachi. He's a natural girl magnet.'

Itachi, for his part, glanced through the all faces in the class and found his own brother, Sasuke, looking at him with eyes full of determination. Itachi however choose not to regard his little brother and gazed straight ahead maintaining his calm visage.

Iruka hushed the class once more and continued giving instructions for the day's exercise. "As I was saying earlier, we will have our shuriken practice for today. You will be given fifteen shurikens each which you will throw at the target - those logs." Iruka pointed at three logs standing from the ground a couple of yards away. "Each log has a circle marking in them where you will be landing your shurikens on. Understood?"

The class boomed a collective "hai" for an answer.

"Okay, if there are no questions we will begin with Uchiha Sasuke." Iruka called.

Sasuke stepped in front of the group, his shurikens in hand. He glanced left towards his brother before returning his attention back to the target. 'Brother, I'll show you what I can do,' he thought a smirk forming on his lips.

The little Uchiha immediately leaped and threw all the shurikens in his right hand on his way up. All five shurikens dug themselves perfectly inside the circle marking of the first log. Sasuke then spun around in the air releasing the other batch on his left hand before gravity began to take control of his body. Again, all five hit well inside the marking of the second log. On his way down, Sasuke quickly pulled out the last set of shurikens from his holster and threw it at the third log before twisting his body in preparation for a perfect landing. Five successive thuds announced that the last batch have hit the target as well.

The girls in his class erupted in cheer after Sasuke's outstanding performance. Two of them, a pink-haired and a blonde with long hair screamed, "You're so cool, Sasuke!" Even Iruka-sensei cited him meaning another full mark. Most of the boys muttered "show off" under their collective breaths. Sasuke ignored all these as he walked back towards his place. Before sitting down though, he turned first to his older brother and cast his patented smirk at him.

"Sasuke is doing well, ain't he?" Shisui whispered to Itachi.

Itachi didn't bother a reply as he kept his eyes on his smirking brother. Only when Sasuke took his sit did Itachi turned his head towards the spiky black-haired boy wearing a pair of shades who was called next for his turn at shuriken-throwing. The young Anbu remained silent during the course of exercise watching carefully as each student took their turn. Shisui was whispering him his comments from time to time which didn't really came as any help since he had already spotted those strengths and flaws of each student's technique, thanks to his advanced vision.

"Alright, it looks like everyone here has finished the exercise. That will be all for today. Everyone, go back to the classroom to pick your things and you may go home," said Iruka. However he had this strange feeling that someone in his class has skipped the activity and went to check his list. Surely enough he found one. Suddenly, a loud boom echoed through the area causing everyone to turn their heads towards its direction. To their horror, thick white smoke was coming out from one of the windows within the school building. Itachi, Iruka and Shisui were about to rush towards the scene when they saw a blonde boy jumped from the smoking window with a wide foolish grin plastered across his face.

"You idiots can't do something as horrible as that! I'm amazing! HAHAHA!" The boy screamed as he made his escape.

Iruka slapped his forehead. 'He's causing trouble again.' "Get back here! Naruto!" The chuunin shouted as he broke into a dash towards his delinquent student. Seeing a mad Iruka ready to skin his behind, Naruto tried to leave the Academy premises but was immediately caught by his sensei before he could even make it pass the fences.

"Who's that kid?" Itachi asked.

"That? That's Uzumaki Naruto. You know what, I mean, who he is," explained Shisui.

'So this is the Fourth Hokage's legacy.' Itachi thought as he watched Iruka drag a squirming Naruto back to the training field.

"The police has been receiving a lot of complain about him lately. He loves making pranks out of people so I guess that's what makes them hate him more. Well, not that they don't hate him anyway knowing the fact that he is the 'you know what'," continued Shisui with a shrug. "The reason why the police force can't get him even with the large volume of complain is because Sandaime Hokage is fond of the kid. I think if not for the Hokage, that kid would have probably been thrown out or worse dead by now. Talk about being unwanted," he added as an after comment.

"Naruto! You're not going anywhere until you finish today's exercise! Now go throw those shurikens at those logs." Iruka commanded to a pouting Naruto.

"Why should I do that, Iruka-sensei? That sounds lame," replied the fox kid causing the knots of Iruka's temple to multiply both in size and number.

"Don't you see that we have visitors! Now show your skills and impress them!" Iruka shouted pointing at the two jounin behind him.

Naruto gazed at two men intently appearing as if he was carefully analyzing and calculating these peoples capacity. Itachi and Shisui stared directly back at the boy. Naruto then shifted his head towards his sensei and asked, "Ne? Ne? Iruka-sensei, who are these guys? They don't look strong."

Shisui, and from within the class, Sasuke, appeared scandalized. 'How dare he call me weak, that brat? I was feeling sorry for him earlier but now all I want is to strangle him.' he thought while Sasuke was seething his teeth at the comment that dobe gave to the older brother he looks up to. Itachi, on the other hand, appeared not to be affected at all and was perfectly maintaining his calm.

"Baka!" said Iruka landing his fist right into Naruto's crown. "Don't underestimate them! These two are the top members of the Anbu and the Police Force!"

"So what?" replied Naruto. "I'm going to become hokage someday and then I'll kick their ass!"

"What the..." Shisui was about to step forward to give the brat a piece of his mind but stopped on his tracks when he felt a light tap from Itachi. He turned a found the Anbu member staring at the blonde kid intently. Shisui sighed allowing the brat's rudeness to slide and settled to watch the show.

"Keep your eyes peeled everyone as the great Uzumaki Naruto nail those targets in a snap!" Naruto bragged before concentrating on the three logs a good distance before him. He quickly pulled his shurikens one after the other and tossed them at the targets. "How's that? Perfect isn't it?" Naruto quickly turned around after disposing all his shurikens and gloated. There was silence in the air as everyone in class appeared to be stunned. 'Ha! They're stunned at my spectacular shuriken skills they can't even say it! I'm the best! Hehehe!'

Suddenly the entire class began laughing wildly while a large sweatdrop appeared over Iruka's forehead. Confused, Naruto turned around only to find that not one of his shurikens made it inside the respectively large circular mark on the logs. "NO!!!" The blonde screamed in disbelief.

"I guess that's a fail Naruto," said Iruka writing Naruto's score in his record.

"I'll do it again, Iruka-sensei! I'll show you what I'm made of!" Naruto said, taking out another set of shuriken and trying once more. The result, one of his shuriken hit the circular line while the rest completely missed making the laughter grow louder. Naruto was clenching his fists as the laughter of the class rang through his head. He snapped around and shouted at the class. "I'll show you all! I'll be hokage someday! You just wait!"

"Yeah right, dumbass!" said the boy with a puppy on his head making the laughter grew louder once more.

"What did you say, dog-breath?!" yelled an angry Naruto flashing his fist threateningly at him.

"Alright, that's enough. Everyone go pick your things and you may go home." Iruka said dismissing his students. "Don't forget your homework for tomorrow!"

"Geez. What a no-talent bum." Shisui muttered still chuckling after finding Naruto's earlier antics as amusing.

Itachi stared at the shuriken which, out of pure luck, managed to stick itself on the line marking of the target. He then walked towards the blonde boy who was standing a few steps away and looking sadly down at the ground beneath his feet.

"Naruto."

The eleven-year-old boy looked up to face the Anbu only to have the man poke his fingers on his forehead.

"You did well." With that said Itachi marched away towards where his friend was waiting leaving Naruto standing there totally confused. Itachi then mentioned Shisui that it's time to leave and the two started on their way.

'What was that all about?' Naruto contemplated over it for a few moments before coming to a conclusion. "Hey you! Are you trying to make fun of me, you bastard?!" The boy screamed after Itachi.

"Naruto!"

Naruto flinched when he heard Iruka's voice. He slowly peeked behind and found his sensei standing angrily, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Extra class for you."

"WHAT!!!"

* * *

"You're right, Shisui."

"?" Shisui turned to his companion who spoke only after they have made it several blocks away from the Academy. Itachi appeared to be thoroughly pleased, something he rarely see of the young genius.

"I have found it. The only thing I, as a ninja, have yet to do. A way to measure my capacity." Itachi's face flickered with a small smile of satisfaction.

Shisui smiled and turned his gaze back on the road ahead.


	2. Chapter 2: A Troublesome Graduation Exam

Rants: Thank you for the support, everyone! Honestly, I never expected to have that many reviews for my pilot chapter. Again, thanks guys. Hope you enjoy the next installment. By the way, does anyone know what Sasuke's father's name is? I really need it for my succeeding chapters. Thanks in advance. D

* * *

Sandaime placed the document he was reading over the desk and turned at the other person standing opposite him. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Hai."

The old man drew a mouthful of smoke from his pipe before leaning slightly forward against the table. "You have considered this thoroughly, Itachi?"

"Hai, hokage-sama," nodded Itachi.

"And does your father know about this?"

"Not yet." The young man shook his head lightly. "But I will be telling him some time later."

Noting the young man's resolve, Sandaime put away his pipe and glanced back at the papers. "I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you very much, hokage-sama." Itachi bowed politely before taking his leave from the hokage's office.

Sandaime propped his back comfortably against his chair. Thankfully, that was the last meeting scheduled for him in the morning. He was hoping to have a leisurely walk along the village and to pay tribute to the hokage monument later that day. Unluckily, his perfect plans might have been ruined when two ninjas burst into his office a minute after Itachi has left.

"Hokage-sama!" Both of them called.

"What is it?"

"Please come with us hokage-sama! Naruto has desecrated the Hokage Monument!" explained one of the shinobis.

Hokage heaved a heavy sigh before standing up and following the two towards the open platform overlooking the stone carvings of all the hokages faces etched along the stone cliff north of the village. "Geez... What has that idiot done?" The hokage said in disbelief after seeing the horribly vandalized monument. 'He even did that to my face.'

* * *

Meanwhile, up on the rooftops a good distance away from the monument, the chase is on between a noisy, blonde kid in an orange jumpsuit and his three chuunin pursuers.

"Get back here, Naruto!" One of the ninjas chasing the fox boy shouted.

"Gyahahaha! None of you idiots can do something that horrible! But I can! I'm incredible!" Naruto called back at them before jumping down on the nearest back alley.

"Don't let him get away!" the chuunins cried as they step up their pace, passing through the alley and into the narrow streets of the village's residential district.

"Nitsususu..." Naruto sounded in suppressed laughter, releasing the cloaking fabric he used to camouflage himself along the wooden fences. 'Losers!' thought the boy as he was about to make his escape towards the other end of the alley but unfortunately for him, he bumped into the last person he ever wanted to find him that time. "Yikes! Iruka-sensei!"

Sure enough, Iruka was raging, his eyes twitching and a large knot of nerves was plainly visible over his forehead. "What the hell are you doing during class time, you baka!" screamed the chuunin. He planted his fist over Naruto's thick skull with so much force that it almost knocked the fox boy out cold. Iruka took the opportunity to do his stuff.

"Hey! Iruka-sensei, what are you doing! Ouch! Let me out!"

Several minutes later, Iruka dumped a tied-up Naruto back in class. "The Academy graduation exam is due next week and let me remind you that you already failed the last time! This is no time to be causing trouble, you moron!" he yelled.

"Yeah, yeah," huffed Naruto.

Iruka seethed and decided to turn his anger to the class. "Time for a review test on Henge no Jutsu! Everyone line up!"

"WHAT!!!" The entire class cried in disbelief. Knowing Iruka, the children complied nonetheless forming a single file on the open space in front of the room.

"I want each of you to transform perfectly into me!" Iruka nodded at the boy on the other end of the line to step forward and perform the exercise. Within seconds, the boy turned into an exact copy of their sensei.

"This is all your fault." One of the boys who helped untie Naruto said.

"Hmph! Like I care." Naruto replied while dusting himself.

"Next, Uzumaki Naruto!" called Iruka.

'Damn. This sucks,' thought Naruto as he begrudgingly walked towards the center of the class. Once there, the blonde boy shifted the googles over his forehead back into place. Naruto began to gather chakra while forming the hand seals. "Henge!"

There came a little explosion resulting in a cloud of ninja smoke which when cleared, revealed not a replica of Iruka but a fully naked babe with blonde hair tied in twin ponytails and a luscious body to boot. Iruka's jaw fell flat on the floor at the sight. All the blood in his body rush up into his face before it squirted in powerful jets out from his nose.

"Gyahahaha! How do you like that?!" Naruto guffawed, reverting back to his old self. "I call it Orioke no Jutsu!"

"You dumbass! Don't invent stupid jutsus!" Iruka yelled after recovering from the shock the blonde gave him. He had to plug his nostrils to prevent more blood from leaking out. "Do it again!"

Naruto grumbled as he gathered chakra and formed the hand seals again. Again, white smoke filled the area where Naruto was standing and when it cleared, a full replica of Iruka stood in the middle. With only one defect... it had fish lips.

The class roared in laughter. With a loud puff, the deformed Iruka turned to the sheepishly laughing Naruto. "That was a joke. Hehehe..." said the boy while scratching the back of his head.

"Dammit! Get serious!" A very ticked Iruka shouted.

"Okay! Here goes!" Naruto once again performed the Henge no Jutsu and the result – the Iruka-sensei replica that still had deformed lips. This time there was an awkward moment of silence that swept throughout the entire room.

A giant sweatdrop sprouted itself over Iruka's forehead. "You can't do the Henge no Jutsu... seriously..."

* * *

The sound of heavy breathing slowly filled the air. Standing in the middle of a secluded clearing somewhere within the woods, a beaten Naruto threw the kunai in his hand towards the trunk of a nearby tree before exhaustion took its toll on him dragging his body down to the ground. 'Dammit! I can do this! I'll show everyone!' the boy's thoughts were disturbed when he heard footsteps approaching closer.

"What are you doing here, Naruto-kun?" The new comer asked needlessly. One look at the boy's frail body said it all.

"I'm training. What does it look like to you, idiot?" Naruto answered while slowly pulling himself back on his feet. He then turned around and saw a short black-clad guy that in Naruto's estimate was about five or so years older than him. "Hey you! You're that Anbu guy that came to our shuriken practice! Where's that stupid looking sidekick of yours?! And more importantly, what the hell are you doing here anyway?!"

"Nothing. I was just wandering around." Itachi replied casually.

Naruto crossed his arms looking as if he was trying to weight whether to believe the man or not. It didn't take long though before he came to a decision. "Well then buzz off! You're disturbing my training!" said the boy rudely turning his back at the Uchiha.

Itachi smirked inwardly at the blonde's childish behavior. "Naruto-kun."

"Yeah?" Naruto asked looking back at Itachi from over his shoulder.

"I remember you saying last time that you're going to become hokage someday."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. So what?"

"I was just wondering what made you choose such a dream." Itachi asked curiously.

"Well..." Naruto was scratching his cheek while he organized the answers to Itachi's question in his mind. "Basically, those that receive the hokage name are the best ninja in the village, right?"

Itachi nodded in response.

"One day I'm going to get the hokage name..." Naruto raised a finger in the air and pointed it cockily towards Itachi, "...and then I'm going to surpass all the previous hokage!"

Itachi was taken aback by that last statement. The boy's resolve and determination greatly struck him.

"And then! And then! I'll make everyone in the village acknowledge my existence!" exclaimed Naruto.

Itachi's hard lips smiled a small, warm smile. He waved his hand at the kid gesturing him to come closer.

Naruto obviously has no idea at what the teen wanted with him. Guessing that it wouldn't hurt to find out, he began to walk towards the jounin. What he heard next made his face brighten up in glee.

"I'm going to teach you a special jutsu that will let you pass the Academy exam."

* * *

A week later and Naruto found himself standing at the middle of the Academy testing room where the graduation examination was being held. His other companions, Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei, were sitting behind a table on the far end of the room. Placed neatly over the table were dozens of leaf hite-ates, the thing that Naruto had been long fantasizing of having and the mark of his first step towards fulfilling his dream.

"Alright Naruto, for the graduation exam I want you to create two clones." instructed Iruka. "Begin!"

'Heh! I'm going to surprise Iruka-sensei!' thought Naruto, cracking his knuckles. He then started to gather chakra and executed a string of hand seals. 'Watch this!' "Kagebunshin no Jutsu!"

Just as Naruto has expected, Iruka was very much surprised after hearing the name of the jutsu. 'Kagebunshin? That's a jounin-level ninjutsu! How did Naruto learn it?' thought Iruka. He was anxiously waiting for the white cloud of smoke that erupted shortly after Naruto announced the skill to fade away and see for himself.

After a short moment of waiting, all the smoke had faded away revealing three Narutos... only that the other two were lying on the ground completely immobile with their tongues lulling out. Both Naruto and Iruka were left dumbstruck at the sight.

"FAIL!!"

"Iruka-sensei..." called Mizuki catching the other chuunin's attention. "This is his second attempt. Besides, he did manage to create two clones and they were actual bodies at that, not just mere illusions. We could let him pass."

Naruto's brightened visibly at Mizuki's suggestion. However, that had been short-lived when he heard Iruka's reply. "No way, Mizuki-sensei. It is true that he did create two clones like everyone else but unlike the others, Naruto's clones were useless ones. Those cannot be used in a real-life combat situation. I'm sorry but I cannot let him pass."

With that said, Iruka stood and from his seat and exited the room without turning a glance towards Naruto. Mizuki stood up pitying the crestfallen Naruto before following after his colleague leaving the boy alone within the confines of the testing room.

* * *

Itachi and Shishui stood outside the wire fence bordering the Academy premises. Both Uchihas watched the lone boy sitting by the swing away from the rest of the class who were happily celebrating with parents for finally graduating into full-pledged shinobis.

"Poor kid," said a sniffing Shisui. He wiped a tear drop that threatened to fall from the corner of his eye. Even though the brat was rude and tactless, he couldn't help but pity the kid after seeing his dejected feature. "Hey, Itachi. Don't you think it's still a bit too early for that brat?"

"No. He is ready. We just hit a minor snag, that's all." The ever calm and composed Itachi said. "Shisui. We will proceed with the next step of the plan."

"Don't worry. I already have everything arranged."

Itachi nodded, still keeping Naruto under his watchful eye. "Good."

* * *

Loud, successive knocks were heard coming from Iruka's door later that evening. 'Geez, who the hell could that be at this hour?' The academy instructor got up from his bed to answer the door. Standing there outside his apartment was Mizuki. He was breathing hard and seemed to be greatly troubled by something. "What is it?!"

"Hurry! We must go to hokage-sama!" said a very tensed Mizuki. "Naruto has taken the Scroll of the Forbidden Seals!"

The news really came as a shock to Iruka. He refused to believe Naruto would think of stealing such an important scroll even if it was just part of another one of his pranks. Quickly, Iruka strapped on his vest and followed Mizuki down to the Administrative Building where a crowd of angry shinobis have assembled.

"That brat! He won't get away with this!" the crowd shouted.

"Hokage-sama! We must do something about this!" demanded a jounin.

The hokage nodded. The look on his face told Iruka of the graveness of the situation. "Yes. The jutsus written on that scroll are dangerous and have been forbidden by Yondaime. If used in certain ways it can cause great trouble." The hokage turned to his shinobis with all seriousness. "Hurry and find Naruto!"

"Hai!!" The crowd disappeared in a wink of an eye upon the hokage's order. The shinobis dispersed in all directions and began scouring the entire village for the missing demon brat.

* * *

Dirt and bruises covering his entire body, an exhausted Naruto sat on the forest floor to take a much needed break. 'Damn it. Why did that stupid scroll have to start with the Kagebunshin stuff? That Anbu guy was right after all. I really need to learn this jutsu if I want to pass.' Heavily panting, Naruto pulled himself back up after a couple minutes of rest and was about to try again when someone suddenly spoke from behind almost making his heart leap out of his chest.

"Naruto! I've found you!"

"Iruka-sensei!" The blonde cried after seeing the angry chuunin. Having been caught, Naruto could only laugh sheepishly, scratching his head while his sensei glared at him. He braced himself for a whole round of ear-splitting lectures about to come his way when suddenly Iruka's angered expression softened, much to the boy's surprise.

"Hey, you're all beaten up. What were you doing here?" Iruka asked.

"Never mind that!" exclaimed Naruto, his freakish stamina starting to come into play. He was now bouncing up and down when he had been all worn out just a few minutes ago. "Ne? Ne? I'm going to try that incredible jutsu again! If I do it Iruka-sensei, you'll let me graduate!"

'So you've been practicing here, enough that it damaged your own body,' thought Iruka. If not, he was actually pleased at the diligence his student has shown. It was then that he finally took notice of the large scroll hanging by the boy's back. "Naruto, where did you get that scroll?" He asked.

"Oh this?" Naruto said tapping the scroll for emphasis, "Mizuki-sensei told me about it and about this place too. He said that if I showed you this jutsu, I'd definitely graduate!"

'Mizuki?' Iruka was cut of his thoughts when he felt danger approaching fast. Quickly, he pushed Naruto out of the way leaving himself open to receive a whole barrage of kunais thrown at them by an unknown attacker.

"Nice job in finding him." a new voice said. It's owner leaping out of the shadows revealing himself at the two.

"I see. So this is what's going on..." Iruka pulled out a kunai that buried itself in his side and cast it aside. Thankfully, none of the kunais hit a vital spot and they didn't seem to bury that deep. "...Mizuki!"

"Naruto, give me the scroll!" Mizuki ordered, turning his eyes down at the blonde kid.

"Naruto! Don't give him the scroll even if you die!" screamed Iruka.

"Hey! Hey! What's going on here?!" A scared and confused Naruto asked, turning at both senseis.

"That is a dangerous scroll that has forbidden ninjutsu sealed in it. Mizuki used you to get his hands on it!"

Naruto was shocked at the revelation made by Iruka. He turned, eyes shaking in disbelief, to the other sensei standing high up on a sturdy branch of a nearby tree.

"Naruto. There's no point in you having that scroll." Mizukis lips turned to a smirk. "I'll let you in on a little secret."

"No! Don't!!" protested Iruka.

"Twelve years ago... you know about the nine-tailed demon fox being sealed, right?" asked Mizuki.

Naruto swallowed hard and nodded silently.

"Since that incident Sandaime imposed a new rule for the village. But Naruto, this rule was never meant to be told to you."

"...not to me?" Naruto felt his curiosity taking the best of him. He didn't want to leave now. Too many secrets have been kept from him for too long and he thought that it's about time for him to know the truth. "Why?! What is this rule?!" he asked. Mizuki began to chuckle like a mad man, the sight of which sent tingles down his spine. Down in his heart, he felt that he didn't want to hear any of it but something in his mind prevented him from running away. He had to know. "What kind of rule is it?"

Mizuki gave a hard stare at the boy. "The rule is that no one is allowed to talk about the fact that you are the kyuubi no youma!"

Naruto was greatly shocked at what Mizuki had said. He refused to believe it. Naruto began taking involuntary steps backward until he tripped and fell down with his behind against the ground. "What the hell do you mean?!"

"It means that you are the nine-tailed demon fox that killed Iruka's parents and destroyed the village. You were sealed up by Yondaime, the hokage you admired and..."

"Stop it!!" Iruka's protests fell on deaf ears as Mizuki continued on.

"...you've been lied to by everyone. Didn't you find it strange how everyone hated you?"

Upon hearing this, Naruto's eyes fell on his feet. He felt more than sad, he felt betrayed. 'I never knew why everyone hated me. So this explains everything...' he thought sadly.

"Iruka is the same. He actually hates you!" said Mizuki as he pulled a fuuma shuriken. "Nobody will ever accept you!" he screamed casting the giant shuriken down towards the boy.

However, both to Mizuki and Naruto's surprise, Iruka jumped over to cover the boy just in time and had the tip of the fuuma shuriken pierce his back instead. Naruto looked up to Iruka and saw him cringe in pain. The boy was on the verge of breaking up due to the overload of emotions currently plaguing him. "Why?" he asked weakly.

"My parents... after they died there was nobody to compliment me or acknowledge me... I was so sad. I would always act like an idiot to get people's attention since I wasn't able to do well in things like school and get attention that way. It was better than being nothing so I kept acting like an idiot. It was so painful..." Iruka explained as he recalled his past experiences. He couldn't help for the tears to flow through his eyes as he watched his student. "Naruto, you must be in a lot of pain too."

Naruto didn't know what to feel that time. Finally knowing who he was made him feel more afraid than he had ever truly felt in his entire life. Naruto got up and dashed as quickly as he could into woods and away from anyone else.

"Naruto!" Iruka called out.

"Hehehe..." Mizuki landed perfectly on the ground chuckling. "Sorry but Naruto isn't the type to have a change of hearts. He plans on using that scroll and extract revenge on the village. You saw those eyes earlier..." Mizuki explained as he watched Iruka struggled to pull the fuuma shuriken off his back. "...those were the eyes of a demon."

Iruka glared at Mizuki for saying those. "Naruto isn't like that!!"

"Well, that doesn't really matter. I'll kill Naruto and get the scroll for myself. I'll deal with you later." Mizuki jumped high up the branches and began racing through the woods.

'I won't let you get away!' Iruka thought as he started, despite his wounds, to follow and stop Mizuki.

Unknown to the three them, someone stood from high up on one of the branches a short distance away, perfectly hiding his presence from everyone else. The man, draped in standard Anbu battle gear complete with a mask covering his face, watched as the events transpired on the ground below.

* * *

Back in the village Shisui was leaping from rooftop to rooftop while racing across the village. He turned at the group of shinobis on his tail and immediately his face fell into a scowl. 'Damn that Itachi making me do all the hard work! Leading all these people away from that brat's tail was a lot harder than he thought! I guess I'll get back at him big time later on.'

Shisui turned a sharp left and headed towards the outskirts of the village. "Everyone! Let's go check the bathhouse!" He shouted aloud. The shinobis on his tail said their assent and blindly followed the Police Force jounin towards Konoha's hot spring district.

After a few minutes leaping from branch to branch around the forest, Iruka finally caught sight of the blonde boy. "Naruto!" He called out, quickly catching up and racing beside the kid. "Hurry! Pass me the scroll! Mizuki is after it!" To his surprise, instead of giving the Scroll of Forbidden Seals Naruto gave him a sharp tackle on the abdomen sending the chuunin crashing down on the ground.

"Why Naruto?" Iruka turned at the kid as soon as he stopped sliding against the hard ground and saw the tired blonde leaned against a large tree trunk. Suddenly there was a loud puff of smoke that covered Iruka. "How did you know that I wasn't Iruka."

Naruto grinned his patented cocky grin before a cloud of white smoke covered him entirely. "I'm Iruka." The chuunin said reverting back to his real appearance.

"I see..." Mizuki smirked. He had to admit that he was impressed at Iruka's transformation skill. Even he was fooled by that henge. "You'd even transform into what killed your parents to protect him?"

"I won't hand the scroll over to an idiot like you!" Iruka said defiantly.

"You're the idiot. Naruto and I are the same." Mizuki snapped back at him. Unknown to the two chuunins, the person they were talking about was actually hiding behind the trunk of a nearby tree and was definitely within earshot.

"If you use the jutsus written on that scroll you can do whatever you want. There's no way that demon fox wouldn't try to use that power," continued Mizuki.

"Yeah..." Iruka seconded.

Hearing those words come straight from Iruka's mouth, Naruto felt a sharp pain flared from deep within his heart. He felt more betrayed. 'Damn! I knew it! Even Iruka-sensei... deep down... doesn't acknowledge me...' The boy's face was stained with an unbearable sadness and all he could do was to hug the huge scroll tightly within his arms for a much needed comfort.

"...the demon fox would do that but Naruto is different. I've acknowledge him as one of my excellent students. He may not be the hardest worker and he's clumsy that's why people make fun of him. He already knows what it is to feel pain in your heart..."

Naruto could not believe what he was hearing. Finally, after all this time he had found someone who would acknowledge him and knowing that fact sent warmth throughout his entire being. Naruto sniffed as tears flowed uncontrollably from his eyes.

"He isn't the demon fox anymore. He is a member of the Hidden Leaf Village." Iruka stared right into Iruka's eyes and felt his heart swelled with pride as he spoke, "He is Uzumaki Naruto."

Mizuki gritted his teeth in rage. He pulled a kunai and threw it at Iruka. "Iruka, I said I would deal with you later but I'm changing my mind." He took out his last fuuma shuriken in preparation to strike down the heavily wounded chuunin. "Hurry up and die!"

Iruka closed his eyes. He knew his death was inevitable. However, that dreaded feeling of cold, sharp steel stabbing against his flesh never came. He opened his eyes and found that Naruto had struck Mizuki unexpectedly on the face causing the fuuma shuriken to be released prematurely and in effect missed its intended mark. The deadly projectile continued to fly away slicing down branches in its wake.

"You shouldn't have done that," hissed Mizuki.

"Don't touch Iruka sensei..." Naruto turned courageously at Mizuki. His face was devoid of any fear. "I'll kill you!"

"Why did you come out, you baka?! Run away!" Iruki shouted fearful of the fate that may come to his favorite student at the hands of the traitor Mizuki.

"Shut up!" roared Mizuki who had gotten back on his feet, "I'll kill you with one shot!"

"Try it trash! I'll return the pain a thousand times over!" Naruto said. Venom filled his voice. Large amounts of chakra began to pour out of the boy's body that it was starting to become visible creating a bluish light around him. He crossed his fingers forming a hand seal in preparation for his offensive.

"Then do it, demon fox!" challenged Mizuki as he charged towards Naruto.

"Kagebunshin no Jutsu!!"

Mizuki was stopped dead on his tracks. His spine shivered in fear at the sight at the massive number of Narutos that filled that area of the forest around them. "Wha? What's going on?" 'This is impossible! How in the world could that brat created this many clones?'

"What's wrong? Come at me! Weren't you going to kill me with one shot?" All the Narutos said at once. The clones were flexing their arms and cracking their fists dishing out the maximum intimidating effect over Mizuki. The chuunin has been doing a hard job cowering over his small space of the forest. "Well then, I'll start things off!" With that, over a thousand Narutos leapt down at Mizuki.

Punches and kicks coming in from all direction, Iruka finally relaxed and was in fact quite pleased as he watched how Mizuki fared against the entire mob. Thinking that he had dished off enough damage, Naruto dispersed the shadow clones back into smoke leaving only his real body standing next to a badly beaten Mizuki. Iruka was actually surprised that Naruto didn't killed Mizuki, only leaving him looking much much worse than dead.

"Hehe... I think I went a little too far." Naruto chuckled scratching the back of his head.

Iruka smiled weakly. "Naruto, come here. There's something I want to give you."

High up within the trees, Itachi nodded in approval at Naruto's show of skill. "You did well, Naruto-kun." With a sudden burst of speed, the young Anbu captain vanished from his perch.

* * *

After hours of fruitless search, the villagers have gathered back at the front of the Administration Building. Anger was the evident emotion there as the shinobis asked each other if anyone had spotted then demon carrier while the others are talking amongst themselves about what they would do if they get their hands on the kid. However, Shisui knew better. There was an overpowering fear and anxiety among the people there though they refused to show it.

"Hokage-sama!" the shinobis called out as they watched the village's leader stepped out of the building.

"There's nothing to worry about," said the hokage. He was now calm, evidence that the troubles have passed and that there was nothing more for the village to worry about. "He will be back soon."

Shisui formed a self-satisfied smile. 'Operation success.'


	3. Chapter 3: Birds Of The Same Feather

Rants: Hi guys new chapter up. By the way, I want to make one thing clear: I am not going to change the fact that Naruto is just the vessel of the kyuubi and not the kyuubi itself. Explaination for that will be found on the next chapter. Again, if any of you kind guys know the name of Sasuke's dad please tell me, I need it badly. I remember reading somewhere on the web that Sasuke's mom's name was also Itachi. Not sure about that but if you have info please do tell. Thanks again.

* * *

"I'm telling you I'm innocent!" Mizuki banged the desk hard in frustration. "Why won't you believe me?!"

"You were caught with the stolen Scroll of Forbidden Seals in your possession, you broke hokage-sama's special rule and you tried to kill Umino Iruka and Uzumaki Naruto. You'd honestly think that we'll believe you were innocent?" A middle aged man sitting on the opposite end of the table said. Judging by his uniform, one could clearly say that the man was ranked high among the Police Force.

"It was a set-up! A setup!" Mizuki screamed frantically as he got up from his seat. Two police men flanking on each side of him quickly pushed him back to the chair despite the chuunin's resisting. "Uchiha told me to steal the scroll so that he could have it for himself! He's the mastermind I tell you!"

"Telling everyone that I used someone so low..." The heads of everyone inside the room all turned towards the door where the voice originated. A young police operative stepped inside the interrogation room within the Police Force Headquarters. He was followed closely by a teenager wearing black Uchiha clothing and a large framed and scar-faced jounin. "...don't flutter yourself, trash."

That time, Itachi and his father's eyes met with one another. They kept contact for a few seconds before Itachi pulled his gaze away staring at the apprehended traitor. His father, following his son's example, also set his eyes at Mizuki.

The jounin, Morino Ibiki, noticed the short exchange between father and son. That was enough, owing to his extensive knowledge of the human psychology, for him to be able formulated his own conclusion.

'Hm. The way they look at each other. There are a lot of unspoken feelings going on between these two.' Ibiki moved his gaze from Itachi to his father. 'Well, it's always best to keep your nose off whenever not needed.' Sporting an inward grin, Ibiki resolved to keep what he found out all to himself and focus his attention on the task at hand.

"It's him! He's the traitor! Uchiha Shisui!" Mizuki spat, bolting up from his seat. His eyes flashed with anger at the sight of the new comer.

"Really?" Shisui asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That's right..." Mizuki formed a malicious grin over his face, eyes locked at Shisui. "He's the real traitor. Shisui began contacting me a few days ago and told me about his intention to steal the Scroll of Forbidden Seals. Of course I hesitated. I never wanted to betray Konoha and I was actually going to report it to the hokage right after that first meeting but then Shisui did something that would persuade any person to do his bidding..."

Shisui, along with Itachi and Ibiki, maintained their calm and collected visage while they listened to the chuunin's story. On the other hand, Itachi's father closed his eyes while keeping his arms crossed – a habit of his whenever he is deep in thought.

"Uchiha Shisui, also known as Shisui of the mirage, is well known for his mastery at the use of special Genjutsus to fool and corrupt enemies. As you all know, Sharingan Genjutsu are almost impossible to counter for people without bloodline limits. He used his Sharingan to 'persuade' me into playing part in his scheme where he plans to use the kyuubi brat as a fall guy to steal the Scroll of Forbidden Seals. I am to dispose of the kid..." Mizuki said the last words with his voice full of contempt. The memory of his defeat at Naruto's hands was still painful, both at heart and with the body. "...and hide the scroll in a safe place. I would then spread the news that the monster ran away with the scroll. Once the whole village has bought the story it would then be safe for him to take the scroll."

Shisui crossed his arms and nodded. If not, he actually looked proud about what Mizuki had said. "Nice piece of work. A little more fine tuning and you'd have Jiraiya-sama make a run for his money."

"Shisui." Itachi's father said. His tone and the way he looked were more serious than Shisui had ever seen of him before. "Is this true?"

"Yes, captain."

There were loud audible gasps from the two other police operatives within the room as both of them glanced over at Shisui. They found it hard to believe that a great shinobi such as him would betray the Leaf but after hearing Mizuki's tale both are beginning to doubt the talented jounin.

"I guess it's my turn now, eh?" Shisui stepped forward placing a folder over the table. He cast a deadly glare against the former Academy instructor before facing the captain once more. "What he said is true except for one tiny little part. I did not use Sharingan over him."

"And how would you prove it?" The police captain asked again.

"I was there the day he fought Naruto-kun." Itachi spoke up catching everybody's attention. "Mizuki-san did not exhibit any of the known symptoms of Sharingan-based hypnotism that night, a clear indication that he was acting according to his own volition." Itachi turned at Mizuki, anticipating that the chuunin would challenge his statement, and went on before he could even have a chance to speak. "Explaining the principle behind the Sharingan Doujutsu to you is pointless and is just a big waste of time since it will not be up to you but for the elders to decide on the matter. Everything is written within this report."

"You're lying! I haven't seen or felt your presence anywhere around the forest that night! There's no way you could have been anywhere near us!" protested Mizuki.

Ibiki chuckled aloud. "What you don't know can kill you, boy. For a chuunin who was beaten to a pulp by a dead-last eleven-year-old kid that's not even a shinobi and still have the nerve to assume that you'd be able to sense the Anbu squad leader's presence, aren't you thinking highly of yourself?" He smiled in amusement at the hateful glare Mizuki was throwing at him. 'Heh. They don't make spies like they used to.'

Itachi simply ignored Mizuki and went to place another folder on top of the one submitted by Shisui. "This is the official report submitted by the Anbu. It has already been read and signed by Sandaime Hokage-sama."

"The chuunin Mizuki has been placed under surveillance for months back under the suspicion that he was divulging information outside the village. The suspicion turns out to be true. He was working on gathering information about the village: individual strengths of each leaf shinobi, total military power, current positions and deployments of our troops and village-specialty jutsus – basically, highly-restricted information that could undermine Konoha's military position once it gets out into the hands of the other shinobi villages. We have been feeding him information indirectly on purpose and have found out that he is selling the information off to different clients. Finally, we decided to play along and managed to capture him red-handed." Shisui proceeded to tap the large jounin next to him. "That's the reason why Ibiki-san is here. We borrowed him from the Assassination Squad to help 'squeeze out' a few more details."

A glint in the eye coupled with that infamous sadistic smile made Mizuki shiver from behind the desk, cold sweat started to slowly come out of his skin. Mizuki swallowed hard when he noticed Morino Ibiki, the famed torture and interrogation specialist, eye him with interest.

"Shisui. Itachi."

"Hai." Both of them replied.

The head Uchiha turned at the two of them with hard, narrowed eyes. "Do you know what this little undertaking of yours have nearly cost the village and the Uchiha clan? If he had managed to escape with the scroll that would have exposed the village's secrets and would have place all of us in a very precarious situation, not to mention the disgrace it would have given to the name Uchiha. What were you thinking?"

Itachi took a moment's pause while he organized his thoughts. He then looked straight into his father's eyes and spoke, "Anbu, on several circumstances, has special authority to conduct its own operations and may pull out human resources from any organization within the village if they find the said person's services to be of a great factor towards the successful outcome of the operation. The event in question was an act of espionage and undermines the village's security. Such an event warrants that authority."

"Bullshit!!" Itachi's father slammed the desk angrily. "Every crime that is committed within the boundaries of the village and every single personnel of the Police Force are within my jurisdiction! So is any person bearing the name Uchiha! The fact that this operation that took months of planning and had the cooperation of a personnel of the Police Force, an Uchiha at that, should have been coordinated through me! But instead, I was completely bypassed!"

"Anbu is a battalion under hokage-sama's direct authority. In accordance, any person tapped by Anbu reports directly to the head of the said operation he is part of. We are not obliged to explain our actions to the Captain of the Police Force or to the head of any clan." Itachi's cold reply made his father's blood boil. The fact that his own son dishonored him before so many people made the old man tremble in rage.

Shisui could only scratch the back of his head after witnessing the exchange. 'Itachi angered his old man again. Damn. This is going to be a pain.'

"However..." Itachi continued. "Father, for my rudeness and disrespect, I am deeply sorry."

The Police Force captain stared intently at his son who had bowed in a solemn gesture of apology. It didn't take long before he felt his temper subside. The head of the Uchiha simply crossed his arms and sighed. "That will be all. You two may leave."

Itachi pulled himself upright and, without a word, proceeded towards the door. Shisui bowed hastily at the captain and went after his friend. "Tape it for me." He whispered to Ibiki when he passed by him on the way. Shisui took out a couple of blank tapes from his pocket and handed them over to the Interrogation Specialist before exiting the room.

"Closet sadist." Ibiki muttered to himself as soon as Shisui was out of earshot. He turned gaze towards his charge grinning at the thought of the fun he would be having today.

"Geez, you really have a bad sense of timing you know, picking up the worst of times to let that sharp tongue of yours loose." Shisui commented as the two marched down the short steps in front of the Police Headquarters.

Itachi immediately parted way with his friend and walked down the road alone. "I have an appointment to make." The heir to the Uchiha said, not caring to glance back but waving his goodbye nonetheless.

"Good luck." Shisui nodded. 'I'll just wander around town until the captain cools down.' The police operative thought as he walked down the opposite way Itachi went. Already, he had a particular destination in mind. 'I wonder if that new Icha Icha Paradise volume is out already.'

* * *

The classroom was unusually noisy that day. Naruto slumped on his usual seat watching as most of the kids congratulated one another for passing the exams while the others bragged about their future plans now that they're true ninjas. The blonde's attention fell once again on the hite-ate that was tied proudly around his forehead. "Hehehe..." He shifted it for the umpteenth time that morning and chuckled to himself, sporting that wide foxy grin.

"Huh?" A passing kid stopped by when he noticed Naruto sitting on the seat next to the aisle. "Hey kid, what are you doing here? Only those who graduated are supposed to be here."

"Hey! Hey! Can't you see this?!" Naruto said in outrage, pointing at his forehead protector.

"Settle down, everyone." Iruka said hushing the class down as soon when he got in. Everybody went back to their seats and listened for Iruka's final instructions. "Beginning today all of you are now official Leaf shinobis but you are still merely rookie genin. Now you will be assigned missions by the village. The hard part has just started so do your best."

"Today we will divide the class into three-man teams and each team will be assigned a jounin sensei. You will follow your jounin sensei's instructions as you complete your assigned missions. The team arrangements were made to balance out each team's strength so that not one team will come out as overwhelmingly powerful." Iruka took out a clipboard with various names written on it. "If there are no questions, we'll start of with Team One..."

'Geez. I don't really know any of these guys. It would have been fun though if it were dog-breath or Shikamaru or maybe that fat-ass Chouji. Too bad those losers aren't here' Naruto crossed his arms, considering who he wanted to be teamed up with.

He barely heard Iruka's next announcement. "Next is Team Four: Rock Lee, Tenten and Hyuuga Neji."

'Well, I guess anybody would do,' thought Naruto nodding.

"Last team, Team Eleven will be composed of Uzumaki Naruto..."

Naruto's attention perked up after he heard his name called. He turned at Iruka, anxiously waiting who he will be partnered with. "And? And?"

"...that will be all." Iruka finished. Naruto almost fell on the floor after hearing that.

"Hey! Iruka-sensei! Why didn't I get any teammates?!" Naruto banged his desk and protested.

Iruka turned at the clipboard once more before answering the loudmouthed kid's question. "Naruto, the total number of those who passed during the exam was thirty and the team assignments were made immediately after that. You made it through the cut of the graduating class several hours later so your name was not included in the original list. Also, your addition meant that the total number of graduates was now raised to thirty-one and since there are no more extra students for you to be teamed up with you will just have to cope, understand?"

"Hmph! I see!" Naruto crossed his arms feeling thoroughly confident. "The reason why sensei didn't give me teammates was because I am such an outstanding student that my skills alone were equal to that of three kids! Ha! Iruka-sensei said that they had to balance out the teams so that means that I'm the most improved one in the class! That must be it!" Naruto bragged. He was oblivious of the fact that the eyes of everyone in class were all zeroed-in on him. Each pair had burning, murderous glares on them.

Iruka heaved a sigh. "Baka. Out of those who took the test, Naruto, you're score was the lowest. For a dead last like you, this arrangement was done so that you are tutored and get more attention from your jounin sensei."

"Yeah. You could really use some, dead last!" Someone from the class teased making the whole class erupt into laughter.

Naruto seethed, clenching his fist. The blonde turned around letting his bile out at everyone, "SHUT UP!!"

'Well, this should work out.' Iruka though. He coughed lightly to draw back the class' attention. "Okay, this afternoon we will be introducing the jounin senseis. Take a break until. Be sure to be back by one."

The students began to exit the class after the briefing. Each one went together with their respective team partners to get acquainted with one other. Since he was basically alone in the team and had no one to hang out with, Naruto ran after the only he person that he knew from the class.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto called out catching up with the chuunin.

"What do you want, Naruto?"

"Ne, ne Iruka-sensei?! It's still early and you don't have anything to do so why don't we go out and have ramen together? Your threat!" Naruto asked looking hopeful. Seeing the dirty look Iruka was giving him, Naruto decided to rephrase his statement. "I-I mean we will both pay for our lunches. Hehe... What do you say, Iruka-sensei?"

"Not now, Naruto. Maybe some other time." Iruka said.

"I see." Naruto's grinning face fell to a sad frown. The boy lowered his head and was about to walk away when he felt a hand rest over his head and shook his hair.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. I have to go meet somebody important today." Iruka said in apology. He for one understood how the kid felt being shoved alone while everyone else had an entire team of their own. Sighing, Iruka took out a cup noodle hidden inside his belt pouch and place it on Naruto's hands. "There. That's a special cup ramen from the Cloud Country. It was kinda expensive so I was saving it as a graduation present for you but remembering what happened with Mizuki that night I didn't have the chance to give you your present. Enjoy."

Surprised, Naruto looked down at the cup ramen and then at Iruka's face who was smiling at him. Naruto beamed with happiness and proceeded to clamp his sensei in a tight bear hug. "Arigatou, Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka stood there watching as Naruto detached himself and made a run for the canteen where hot water was waiting to complete his lunch. 'I'm sorry, Naruto, but there's something that I need to find out,' thought Iruka before continuing on his way.

"Special ramen! Special ramen!" Naruto chanted happily as he raced down the corridor coming from the canteen with a steaming cup of imported instant ramen in hand. 'I wonder how this taste? Nah, it's a present from Iruka-sensei so it must be good. Hehe, can't wait to find out.'

Just as Naruto made a turn on the next corner it so happened that a boy was walking down the opposite way he is. Both boys collided, their heads smacking with one another. Naruto, who was down on all fours, watched in horror as the Styrofoam cup rolled along the floor spilling his precious ramen all over the place. "NO!! Iruka-sensei's special ramen!"

His eyes burning with rage, Naruto turned at the kid that bumped into him. He was down with his behind against the ground shaking his head to rub the daze off. Naruto quickly got back on his feet and grabbed a handful of the boy's clothes with one hand while threatening to smack him with the other. "Look at what you did, you thick eye browed moron! You spilled my lunch!"

"I-I'm sorry." The boy answered politely. "If you want, I'll share my lunch with you." He said raising a plastic bag containing a couple of sandwiches.

Naruto glanced at the food. He was debating mentally whether to take the peace offering or not. For all he know it could be poisoned or something. Suddenly his stomach made a loud growl.

* * *

The two boys were found eating lunch out on the balcony a few minutes later. "Wow! That was good! Thanks a lot Geji-Mayu!" Naruto cried patting his belly. 'Though I still prefer the ramen...'

"My mother made those. I'm glad you liked it Naruto-kun." Lee smiled and took another bite of his sandwich.

"Huh? You know my name?" Naruto asked looking completely bewildered. He raised a finger and pointed at himself. Lee started chuckling making Naruto turn warily at him. "What's so funny?!"

"Of course I know. Iruka-sensei said your name aloud plus you were making such a scene earlier. You're sure to leave an impression on everyone in class." Lee explained.

Naruto harrumphed, crossing his arms. "You know..." Naruto said turning back at the thick eye browed boy and sporting a large grin on his chubby face. "...you're such a nice guy. I bet you're the best student in your team." He was quite surprised when he saw Lee's features suddenly fell. "What's wrong, Geji-Mayu?"

Lee lowered his half-finished sandwich. "Actually, I was the lowest in class. I can't use Ninjutsu and Genjutsu and I only have below average Taijutsu. That's why my classmates called me a hot-blooded loser." He said in a low voice.

'He can't use Ninjutsu and Genjutsu and yet he passed the exam?' Naruto watched in disbelief at Lee's revelation. 'Damn you Iruka-sensei, you unfair bastard!'

"People always say that I can't become a ninja and that it's pointless that I stayed at the Academy." Lee turned at Naruto, his eyes shining with determination. "But you know what, Naruto-kun? That became my inspiration. I want to prove to everyone that even if a person can't use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu he can still become a great ninja. That is my dream and I'm devoting everything on that purpose."

"Geji-Mayu..." Naruto muttered. He was clearly captivated by Lee's fighting spirit. 'This guy... He's just like me...'

Again, the blonde broke into a wide grin. "Heh! From now on I will also work harder and devote everything to my dream. Someday I am going to become hokage and have everyone acknowledge my existence!" Naruto declared, raising his fist vigorously into the air.

Lee nodded. "Yeah! I'll become a great ninja and you'll become hokage! We won't quit until we fulfill our dreams!" He too cried aloud, also raising his fist high in the air. Both kids then broke out into a fit of laughter which continued for a few moments until Naruto's eyes fell on the long haired boy eating lunch by the window on the other building.

"Ne, ne Geji-Mayu? Who's that?" Naruto asked curiously.

Lee narrowed his eyes to get a better focus on the boy Naruto was pointing at. "That's this year's number one rookie, Hyuuga Neji. He's the prodigy of that prestigious Hyuuga clan and is said to be the genius among all the genins in Konoha."

"I see..." Naruto muttered. An idea suddenly lit up inside his brain. "Hey Geji-Mayu, since we don't have anything to do, you wanna go have some fun?" He asked, a mischievous smile forming across his lips.

"W-what do you mean?"

"Hehe... watch."

"Wait! Naruto-kun!" Lee called out but was too late as Naruto had already jumped down the balcony and off to the next roof until he was on the side of the building where he saw the long haired boy.

Naruto slowly crept against wall until he reached the window. Good thing the kid was looking at the opposite way that he didn't detect Naruto sneaking behind him. After he had gotten close enough, the blonde quickly jumped inside the window and launched a punch aimed right at Neji's face.

With the element of surprise in his side, Naruto was dead sure his fist would connect until Neji bent slightly backward at the last second making Naruto's fist miss his head by a mere inch. Neji quickly grasped Naruto's outstretched arm, landed a hard elbow on his chest, and finished by throwing him painfully against the floor.

Neji moved closer watching the crumpled orange heap on the floor. "Loser, you know that it's pointless –What!!" To his surprise, the Naruto that he had just beaten erupted in ninja smoke and was revealed to be nothing more than a piece log. At that same time he heard several battle cries coming from above him.

"Got you!!" Neji looked up and saw six Narutos raining down on him from all directions.

'Bunshin? No." The shocked look on the Hyuuga boy's face suddenly transformed into a self-assured one, one that sported a very confident smirk. 'Hm. This could be amusing.' Neji got into battle stance, moving quickly to the left to evade the first pair of fists. Countering with a couple of well-placed kicks and punches, Neji easily disposed the first two clones. He then moved his arm to block a roundhouse kick aimed on his head and hit Naruto with a palm strike on the face that dispelled that body into smoke. Neji then leapt slightly avoiding a sweep kick and took out that offending shadow clone with a spin kick on his way down.

Two Narutos remain. One charged Neji from behind but before he could land a punch the white-eyed boy ducked low avoiding the strike and hit back with a rising uppercut to the jaw. He immediately followed a sharp kick on the abdomen. The force of the blow sent that Naruto flying across the corridor slamming him against the opposite wall.

Now there was only one Naruto remaining, the real one. Naruto tensed up seeing how powerful the so-called genius was but instead of being intimidated the blonde gathered up all his courage and run straight towards the boy, his fist curled tight.

Neji dodged the punch by shifting slightly sideways leaving Naruto with a wide opening and hit him with a powerful palm strike squarely on the chest. Naruto was thrown off his feet, landing painfully on the floor a couple paces back. Clutching his pained torso, Naruto looked up and saw Neji towering dominantly over him. "Whatever you do... It's useless. It is something that fate has already decided. A loser like you can never defeat someone like me."

"What did you say you bastard!!" Angered, Naruto got back on his feet and was about to launch another assault at Neji but stopped dead on his tracks when he heard someone called out his name.

"Stop it!! Naruto-kun!"

Both turned to the direction from which it came and saw a boy with thick eyebrows. Standing next to him was a girl whose brown hair was coiled in twin buns on each side of her head.

"Is this your idea, Lee?" Neji asked. Lee only looked down on his feet and said nothing. Naruto could say that he was trying to take the blame to himself which also caused Neji to sport another smirk. "Birds of the same feather – a hot-blooded loser..." He then turned his gaze from Lee to Naruto. "...and an ignorant dead last."

"Damn you!" Naruto cried out.

Neji closed his eyes and chuckled to himself. "Fighting against destiny is futile. You should learn your place. Don't worry; I hold no grudge against you." The Hyuuga prodigy said eyeing Naruto. He calmly stepped forward pass Naruto and later his teammates. "Com'on. It's time to go."

Tenten quickly followed after Neji but Naruto saw Lee remained standing on his place. Deep inside, he was feeling bad about what happen. Here the guy was being all nice to him and all he could do was get him into trouble. "Geji-Mayu..."

"Good luck, Naruto-kun." Lee said with a smile. With that he went after his team.

* * *

It was still quite early when Naruto headed to the room where he was supposed to meet his new jounin sensei. Things didn't go all too well that morning so Naruto was in a grumpy mood. Thankfully, a nasty idea suddenly brewed up inside his head that took his bile completely off the destiny-obsessed kid, at least for the moment. 'I'm going to set a trap on the door. When the new sensei opens it, boom, he's going to get an eraser dropped over his head! Nitsususu... This is going to be fun!'

Naruto finally reached the classroom. Unfortunately for him, there won't be anytime to set up his ingenious plan because when he opened the room the new jounin-sensei was already inside sitting by one of the chairs.

"You're late."


	4. Chapter 4: Naruto's Super Difficult Test

Rants: I was supposed to post this new chappie yesterday but then my ISP had a problem and I couldn't connect to the net so I decided to just post it next morning. What happened next was that doesn't accept my word file. Oh the horror! Well, I guess halloween starts early for some of us. Enough of that, hope you enjoy the new chapter.

* * *

The old man eyed the young shinobi sitting opposite the table. A number of mouth watering dishes were spread in between them. "What do you want to know, Iruka? I'm sure there's a reason why you'd invite me over for lunch."

"I know that this is not within my power to decide, hokage-sama, but why did you have to place Naruto on a team on his own?" Iruka asked trying to sound as polite as possible.

"You don't think it was a good idea?"

"I do not wish to sound rude but Naruto has been alone for most of his life. Nobody wanted him. This would have been the perfect chance for him to make friends with his teammates. However, after I announced the groupings in class I'm sure that even though Naruto refuse to let it show, deep inside he was sad because it would mean that he's going to be alone again."

Sandaime lowered his head and took a sip off his tea. He knew perfectly that Iruka had a point.

"Also, a one-man team is viable only for exceptionally talented students. With his current abilities, coping up with this kind of setup will be almost impossible for him." Iruka explained.

"So you don't have much faith in Naruto's abilities."

Taken by surprise, Iruka vehemently shook his head. "N-no... it's not that I don't have faith in him. After all, I've acknowledge him as one of my excellent students."

"There's no problem then." Hokage said, placing his cup down the table.

"But hokage-sama..." Iruka stopped midway in his speech when he saw the hokage pull a book from underneath his robes and placed it over the table.

"It was Naruto's new sensei who asked that Naruto alone be placed under his team. To be honest, he was showing a lot of interest at the kid." Hokage continued.

"Who is this jounin sensei? Is he strict?" Iruka's question was only replied with a light nod from the hokage gesturing him to take a look at the book. Iruka did so as told and opened it to the bookmarked page. "Missions completed: fifty-three D-ranked, one hundred sixty-four C-ranked, two hundred thirty-six B-ranked, twenty-seven A-ranked and six S-ranked missions. Date of birth: June 9." Iruka's eyes grew wide when he read the next entry. "Age: sixteen!"

* * *

Naruto opened the classroom and found the new jounin sensei already inside.

"You're late." The jounin said turning his head towards the boy.

"You... you're that Anbu guy!" Naruto exclaimed. "You mean you're going to be my new sensei! And besides, I'm not late! I'm actually early! Look!" Naruto pointed at the clock hanging by the wall to prove his point. The clock now reads one forty-two.

Itachi stood up and marched pass the door where Naruto was standing. It was only after he had taken a good five steps away that Itachi stopped and called out without turning around to face the blonde, "Naruto-kun, come."

* * *

"Isn't he a bit too young to be teaching a genin team?"

The old hokage nodded. "I know. However, he has held the position of Anbu squad leader for three years and is one of the finest shinobi in the village. Personally, I think he is responsible enough and is quite capable of handling this task."

"But hokage-sama, leading a squad of professional shinobis and teaching a genin team are completely different tasks. He may be a genius but I think he may not be mature enough to take on a student of his own." Iruka protested.

"Well, let's just say that I am taking a gamble in this." Hokage simply said reminiscent to something one of his former students would say. The old man's mind lingered back to the last time he allowed such a pairing. The team then was composed of a pale-skinned jounin with snake-like eyes and a hyperactive young girl as his apprentice.

* * *

Naruto was lead by Itachi to the banks of Nakano River. Itachi rested himself on one of the benches along the paved walkway while directly opposite him Naruto sat on the top of the metal railings.

"It looks like we haven't been properly introduced." Itachi began. "Tell me about your likes and dislikes, dreams for the future, hobbies, anything about yourself that you feel like sharing."

"Ne, sensei? You already know who I am so why don't you introduce yourself first. That way we'll be even," said Naruto.

Itachi nodded. "I am Uchiha Itachi. Sixteen years old. I was promoted to the jounin rank just recently. Likes, I guess dango and natto. Dislikes..." Itachi paused momentarily. Several images flashed inside his mind which he dispelled just as quickly. "...I don't really hate anything. As for dreams, I am still looking for one that will suit me although I have already set my mind towards a particular goal. I usually train whenever I'm not on a mission so I guess that will count as a hobby."

"Yosh! It's my turn!" exclaimed Naruto, shifting his hite-ate yet again. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I like cup ramen! What I like even more is the ramen at Ichiraku that Iruka-sensei buys me! I hate the three minutes that I have to wait after I put the hot water for the cup ramen to cook! My hobby is troublemaking and playing pranks! And my dream..." Naruto's voice grew cockily. "...is to gain the hokage name and surpass all the previous hokage! And then, I'll have everyone in the village acknowledge my existence!"

'This is going to be interesting.' A weak smile curled over his lips. "We will begin with your first mission tomorrow morning. "

"Yay! Mission!" Naruto exclaimed. He energetically raised both hands in his excitement that he momentarily lost balance and threatened to fall off to the river below. Luckily, the boy managed to grab the railing just in time to avoid an unscheduled bath. "Ne, Itachi-sensei, what kind of mission?!"

"First, we are going to do something with just the two of us."

"What what what, what is it?"

"Survival training."

"Survival training?" Naruto felt all the excitement drain away from his body. "But sensei, that's just boring. We did that a lot of times at the Academy with Iruka-sensei."

Watching the boy cross his arms and pouted, Itachi waved his hand mentioning his student to come closer. Naruto obliged by jumping down the railings and walking towards the young Uchiha. It was when the boy was merely a step away that Itachi raised his hand and poked Naruto on the forehead. "I will be frank with you. Out of the thirty-one students that graduated this year, only ten or less will become genin. The rest will be sent back to the Academy. This training is actually a difficult test that will determine if you have the right to become a true shinobi."

"WHAT!!" Naruto screamed in disbelief. "What the hell!! But I went through so much trouble! What's the point of graduating then?!"

Itachi actually flinched after having the boy yell right before him. The kid was so loud he feared that he might have permanently damaged his eardrums. "That was simply to choose who among the students have the chance of becoming genin."

"WHAT!!"

"Tomorrow I will determine whether you pass or fail. We will meet at the training grounds near the Shinobi Memorial at exactly five in the morning. There you will receive the details for the test. Bring all your weapons and equipments. Be sure that you eat your dinner and don't skip breakfast tomorrow. Also, go to bed early tonight and get enough sleep. You will need to be in top shape for tomorrow's test." Itachi instructed.

"One more thing..." Itachi turned at Naruto. Though the expression on his face was devoid of any emotion, his eyes were both hard and cold. "In the world of the shinobi only the best are worthy to call themselves 'ninja'. Those that cannot meet the high standards are seen as worthless, wannabe trashes. Be professional. I don't want to hear any excuses in case you fail."

"If you have no more questions then you may go. Meeting is adjourned."

Itachi stood up impassively and started to walk away leaving Naruto alone to contemplate on his chances of passing tomorrow's training. Those eyes and the harsh speech made Naruto tremble nervously. 'I can't fail here. I have to kick Itachi-sensei's ass and make him acknowledge my strength! Seriously!'

* * *

The sun has barely cast its first light that morning when a sleepy Naruto marched into the designated training area. His eyes were somewhat closed that he could be mistaken as sleepwalking.

"You're late."

That voice rudely snapped the blonde off his trance. Naruto glared at Itachi who was leaning by one of the three large logs and yelled, "I'm not late! I'm early!"

"Did you have a good night sleep and ate your breakfast like I told you?" Itachi asked.

"Yeah... I had ramen." Naruto replied yawning aloud and scratching his eyes.

"Good. Let's get over with the training then." Itachi stood upright and placed an alarm clock on top of the log he had leaned on. "The alarm is set at twelve noon. You have until that time to complete the task."

"What task?" asked Naruto.

"We are going to do things with a little twist." Itachi pulled out a small bell and extended it forward so that Naruto can see. "Your task is to get this bell. If you do that you will pass and become a full pledged genin. Normally, a team of three genins will be asked to take one of two bells from their jounin sensei. The one that fails to do so fails and is sent back at the Academy. It's basically the same as to what you will be doing today. However, for this task we will pattern things to what the Hidden Mist Village do with their graduating Academy students – a death match."

Naruto swallowed hard after hearing those. The sleepiness abruptly left him and the ominous feeling of dread slowly settled in. "S-s-seriously, Itachi-sensei..."

"The task you are going to do is a ninety-nine point nine percent failure rate, all or nothing test where if you fail you don't get sent back to the Academy but instead you die." Itachi explained. "Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you outright but that doesn't mean that I won't fight back. You have until exactly twelve noon to try and take this bell however, when the alarm goes off so will your head."

"N-no way..." This time, Naruto was shaking uncontrollably. Goose bumps started to appear all over his skin.

"But if you think that you won't be able to take the bell and you don't want to die, you can always say 'I quit'. If you do so, you will automatically be sent back to the Academy and can try your luck again next year. Do you understand?"

Naruto nodded. He had a difficult time swallowing down a heavy lump that suddenly formed in his throat.

"Good. If you don't have any questions we will start...NOW!"

'What am I going to do...? This guy is an Anbu for crying out loud! If I don't beat the crap out of him soon I'll die...' A panicking Naruto thought.

"You're not going to stand there all day are you? Maybe its best if you just quit now." Itachi teased. A sarcastic grin formed on his lips. "We can't have scaredy cats as shinobis, can we?"

'Scaredy cat! Scaredy cat! I'll show you not to underestimate me, you bastard!' Naruto was practically flaring in anger. He pulled out a kunai from the holster in his right leg and charged straight at Itachi. "I'll beat you to a pulp!!"

Naruto started his attack by thrusting his kunai right towards the jounin's face. Itachi lazily bent his head to left avoiding the sharp metal. Naruto quickly followed with a roundhouse kick which Itachi dodged by crouching down. "Damn it!" Naruto cursed. The boy thrust his kunai again however before it could land on its target Itachi suddenly disappeared, much to Naruto's surprise. The next thing he knew, a leg sweep sent him falling face down before a foot stepped over the back of his head pinning him against the ground.

"The term ninja refers to someone who was trained in the art of stealth and camouflage. It simply means that the basic for any ninja is to hide and conceal himself." Itachi took his foot off Naruto's head and proceeding to land a sharp kick on his side sending the boy skidding along the ground.

The blonde slowly pulled himself back up. "Hide, my ass! I'm going to knock you out with one punch!" Naruto yelled a battle cry, rushing yet again towards Itachi.

"Foolish."

Once he got close enough, Naruto threw his fist forward. Itachi gripped his outstretched arm on the wrist stopping him completely. He then landed a powerful kick on the abdomen propelling the kid several yards back.

"Only two minutes have passed since we started the training and you're beaten already?" Itachi said watching Naruto who was down on all fours. His stomach cringed in pain as he regurgitated all the food he had eaten during this morning's breakfast together with last night's dinner. "For someone who is going to surpass hokage, you sure are weak." Itachi followed.

"I'm not done yet!" Naruto went to strike Itachi but was met with a hard fist on the jaw sending him flying high up into the air and falling straight down the nearby river. 'It wasn't supposed to be this way! Damn it!'

The boy, threading underwater, pulled out a pair of shuriken. The deadly stars flew right out of the water and raced towards the jounin. Itachi simply raised two fingers and caught each shuriken perfectly on the holes at the center of each blade.

'Damn it! Damn it! He's just toying around with me!' Naruto thought angrily in frustration. He crossed his fingers performing a seal. 'I can't fail over a thing like this! I can't! I'm going to become a ninja!'

Itachi was waiting patiently on the ground above when he saw a number of bodies erupt from the waters. Eight Narutos landed perfectly on the ground and broke into a mad dash straight towards the Uchiha heir.

"Haha! My best technique, Kagebunshin no Jutsu! You better not get careless Itachi-sensei! There's more than one of me now!" Naruto bragged.

"That won't make a difference. Come." Itachi's was surprised when he felt Naruto suddenly seized him from behind.

"Hah! Got you!" The Naruto riding on Itachi's back boasted triumphantly. "Using Kagebunshin, I made a clone sneak out from the lower part of the river and made it sneak behind you!" By that time, every shadow clone had latched themselves all over Itachi leaving the real Naruto to strike his sensei. "With this punch, I'm going to make you acknowledge my strength!" Naruto leapt up gathering all the strength he could muster into his fist. "Here goes!" He threw a power-packed punch that landed on... another Naruto.

"Ouch!" The clone cried.

'What the hell. Who did I punch?' The real Naruto thought bewildered. A grand realization suddenly hit him. "You! You're Itachi-sensei, aren't you?! You used Henge no Jutsu to transform, didn't you?!" Naruto accused one of his clones. The following scene erupted in chaos as the Narutos went after each other's throat.

"You are!!"

"No! It's you!!"

"It's not me!!"

"You smell like Itachi-sensei!"

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

"The jutsu I used was not Henge. It was Kawarimi." Every single Naruto stopped beating each other and turned towards the source of the voice where they found the missing jounin. "I switched my body with one of your clones. Not only did it confuse you, but it also caused you to deal damage to yourself."

Itachi quickly performed a series of hand seals ending with the tora seal. "A ninja must never let his guard down. Katon: Goukakyuu no Justu!!" A large mass of flames came out from Itachi's mouth engulfing all the Narutos. Each clone erupted into smoke as soon as the fire came into contact with them. When the flames died down, all that was left was a downed Naruto that was singed on several parts of his body. Thankfully, the injuries weren't severe.

Itachi walked over to the beaten Naruto. "Is that the best you can do?"

* * *

Back at the Ninja Academy Iruka was already busy working on his lesson plan for the next school-year. The conversation he had with Sandaime yesterday suddenly crossed his mind making him stop whatever it was he was writing. Iruka stared up at the ceiling.

"Please excuse me." Iruka that time was standing near the door saying his leave.

"Listen Iruka, I know that this is something that you completely disagree with." The elderly man who was left sitting by the table shifted his gaze towards the chuunin instructor. "Whatever the result, do not hate Itachi."

"That would depend on how Naruto will be after he comes out from the test." Iruka bowed in respect for the village leader. "It was a pleasure, hokage-sama." He said before pulling himself upright and walking out of the room.

'...how Naruto will be...' Iruka's gaze moved down to the small frame sitting right across his desk. It contained the picture of him and Naruto that was taken a day after the blonde received his own hite-ate. Iruka broke into a smile and returned to his work. 'Naruto's a strong kid. I'm sure he'll be okay.'

* * *

The sun was now nearing its highest position in the sky. At that time, the field was filled with several Naruto clones. Itachi pelted straight through the orange crowd and landed a punch against one particular Naruto throwing that body off his feet flying backwards until his back painfully crashed against a sturdy tree trunk. At that instance all the remaining clones were dispelled into a cloud of ninja smoke leaving only the struck down body as the real Naruto.

"I... I'm not done yet..." Naruto muttered weakly.

"Think carefully before using a jutsu or it will be used to your own disadvantage." Itachi said slowly walking towards Naruto. "You should have known that Kagebunshin won't work against me. It isn't a problem for me to identify the real body from the clones."

"What do you mean...?" Naruto, who was slumped against the tree's exposed roots, asked raising his head to see the jounin.

Itachi stopped when he was just a step away closing his eyes. "The unique pair of eyes that sets the Uchiha clan apart, Sharingan." When he opened them once again, Naruto noticed the color of his pupil have completely changed from pitch black to a bloody red that was marked with three black dots. "These eyes can see the different states and movement of chakra. I see your shadow clones as mere masses of chakra and easily distinguish them from your real body. It is impossible to fool these eyes by trying to simply hide behind the clones." Itachi cast a dissatisfied look down on Naruto . "You are pathetic. You should just quit now."

"Damn you!!" Naruto cried getting back on his feet and attempting another shot at Itachi. He gasped for air when he felt a knee land sharply on his abdomen. That was quickly followed with an elbow on the base of his neck and another knee on the jaw sending the battered kid down on the ground once more.

"Quit now while you still have time."

'Damn it! Damn it! I have to get that bell no matter what! I have to!' Naruto thought desperately. A loud ring suddenly echoed across the training field making Itachi turn his attention towards the alarm clock. 'He dropped his guard! Now is my chance!' The kid quickly seized the opportunity and tried to snatch the bell dangling on Itachi's waist. Unfortunately, before he could even have his hands touch the bell a strong foot struck him on the side of the head swinging him a hundred and eighty degrees around and throwing him back towards the center of the open field.

"It's already twelve o'clock. Time is up." Itachi said walking once again towards the badly beaten Naruto. "I remember telling you yesterday that in the world of the shinobi only the best are worthy to call themselves 'ninja'. Someone as weak you who is not even fit to become a genin will be better off dead."

Gritting his teeth due to the intense pain coming from his numerous injuries, Naruto managed to gather enough strength to pull himself back on his feet. It wasn't an easy feat having to spend so much effort just to stay standing. He was panting heavily as he watched Itachi approach closer and closer.

"Don't you want to run away? I will give you one more chance. If you don't want to die then quit. If you die, all your dreams will disappear. You cannot hope to defeat me. Just run. Run and cling to your life." While he continued on with his speech, in his head Itachi recalled the talk he had with hokage in his office a few days back.

"He interests you, doesn't he?" The old man asked. Seated from across his desk, Sandaime had both hands joined and eyed the young jounin intently.

"Hai." Itachi who was standing a few steps away answered while looking at Naruto's profile. "I see many unique qualities in him. One of those that especially interest me is his personality. I recall from our few encounters how he would tirelessly keep on talking about his dream..."

The hokage sighed. "Naruto's dream may be impossible."

"Itachi, I'm sure you have heard about this."

Itachi nodded knowing perfectly what the hokage meant. He did not make any effort to lie or hide that fact knowing that it was impossible to fool the old man.

"As you know, only the adults that fought it eleven years ago know that the kyuubi was sealed inside Naruto. I made it a rule never to mention that fact and severely punished those who broke that rule so the present children don't know the truth. That's the only hope Naruto has." Sandaime paused and looked up on the opposite wall where the portraits of all the previous hokages hung. "Yondaime wanted everyone in the village to see Naruto as a hero. That was his dying wish when he died performing the seal."

"I see..."

"Yondaime sealed the kyuubi inside a baby that just had his umbilical cord cut off. Naruto became the container of the demon monster fox for the village. However..." Hokage continued, his voice sounding bitter. "The adults don't see Naruto in this way. There are even a few who believe that Naruto is the kyuubi itself. The attitude of the adults towards Naruto is being passed down to the unknowing children as well."

'To find acknowledgement for your existence...' Itachi thought, his mind drifting back to the present. He turned at Naruto displaying a cold facade. "To become hokage eh? It is pointless to run after such an unreachable dream. Look closely at reality. There's no way a kid like you will ever becoming hokage."

"SHUT UP!!"

Itachi was surprised to see Naruto look at him with burning eyes, eyes that show no sign of doubt or fear. Instead, they were eyes full of determination and strength.

"I will not run away! If I give up, my dreams and everything that I lived for will be gone! If that happens I will live a life that is far worst than death!" Naruto began performing a set of hand seals. "I told you before Itachi-sensei, I will become hokage and I am going to devote everything on that dream! I will never regret what I do! I will never look back! I will never take back my word! That is my nindo!"

"Very well." Itachi said trying to sound unimpressed. He found the thickening feeling of the air around them satisfying. 'Naruto-kun, show it to me... the height of your capacity.'

Naruto began to gather so much chakra that his entire body was glowing in a bright, bluish light. The wind around them was blowing unnaturally. "Tajyuu Kagebunshin no Jutsu!!" There was a massive explosion of ninja smoke and when it lifted the entire training field was revealed to be filled with around a thousand Narutos.

"It's useless." Itachi stated. From his current position, he could clearly see the real Naruto behind a number of glowing human-shaped masses of chakra. 'He has able to squeeze out chakra in his current state. Impressive.'

"Get ready, Itachi-sensei! I'm going to show you the great Uzumaki Naruto Ninpochou! Alright everyone, let's go!" The real Naruto commanded making hundreds of his clones jump into the air while about half the total number remained on the ground. "Shihou Happou Shuriken no Maki!!" All the Naruto clones yelled at once throwing out a massive number of shurikens that came in from all directions.

"Ninpou, Suiton: Suijinheki." Two pillars of water rose from the nearby river and quickly snaked its way towards Itachi destroying any Naruto clone that got in its way. The water gathered around its summoner forming a protective dome that prevented every single shuriken from hurting Itachi.

"What the..." Naruto cursed. All the clones have landed back on the ground, surprised that their attacks had no effect at all.

Itachi continued with another set of hand seals and the dome slowly rose to become a tall tower of water. "Suiton: Suishouha." The column broke down sending massive amounts of water to flood the entire training field. When all the water cleared, Itachi was left to watch over a thousand Narutos that lay drenched and beaten on the ground. The usual explosion of smoke followed as the shadow clone dispersed but after the smoke cleared Itachi was surprised to find that the real Naruto was nowhere in sight.

"Down here!"

Itachi looked down, utterly surprised to see Naruto emerge from the ground right next to him. 'He knew that the Sharingan will detect his real body from the clones so he buried himself under the ground to hide himself from my eyes and prepared for a sneak attack. Good thinking Naruto-kun.'

'I'm almost there!' Naruto thought triumphantly, his hand was just half an inch away from the bell. Itachi quickly landed a sharp kick catapulting Naruto away. The boy landed hard against the ground, the wind knocked out of his lungs and he simply passed out.

* * *

'Am I dead?' Naruto slowly opened his eyes and found himself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. The faint smell of disinfectant lingered through the air. He was lying comfortably on a soft bed. Looking around, he noted how spacious this hospital room really is but what caught his attention even more was the young man standing patiently right next to him.

"How do you feel?"

His freakish energy slowly gearing up, Naruto bolted upright and turned excitedly at the man. "Ne, ne, Itachi-sensei, how did I do? Did I pass? Did I? Did I?"

Itachi was surprised at the astonishing speed of Naruto's recovery but chose to keep his silence and merely shifted his head staring at the boy's clenched right fist.

Naruto noticed his sensei's gesture and slowly opened the said hand. What he found made his face beam with happiness. Resting on his palm was the bell that he risked his very life to get. "Yehey! I passed! I'm incredible! Hahahahaha!" Naruto laughed aloud bouncing up and down on the soft cushion.

Itachi poked Naruto on the forehead causing the bundle of energy to stop and stare at him. "Congratulations Naruto-kun. Starting today you are now an official genin. Team Eleven will begin its duties tomorrow."

"Arigatou! Arigatou, Itachi-sensei!" Naruto bowed, his eyes threatening to break into tears.

"Since it seems that you're injuries are now healed. Why don't we leave this place and celebrate?" Itachi said the next line needlessly. He perfectly knew what his student would answer. "Tell me, what do you want to eat?"

"Ramen!"

And so ramen it is. The two were later found at the Ichiraku ramen bar. Itachi was still halfway through his bowl while Naruto had already consumed five bowls and was slurping on his sixth one. It seems that eating ramen was one of the few things that Itachi can have a very hard time beating Naruto.

"Naruto-kun?" Itachi started.

"Huh?" Naruto turned his chubby face at Itachi, several strings of noodles dangling out from his mouth.

"Back at the training field, did you feel afraid?"

Naruto paused to think for a moment after which he decided to go back to stuffing his face with ramen. "A little I guess. But not really."

Itachi shifted his head slightly watching his student fish out the last string of noodle from the bowl.

"I know it was just a test and that Itachi-sensei is a kind person..." Naruto slurped the ramen broth noisily before continuing. "...because Itachi-sensei's eyes were different from the others'."

Itachi was touched after hearing those. He remembered the exact words hokage told him the day he told old man his intention to teach a genin team, particularly Naruto.

"Itachi, have you heard of this before?" The hokage asked, turning his eyes back at the Uchiha.

"Heard what, hokage-sama?"

"When a person hates and doesn't acknowledge another's existence, his eyes when looking at the other becomes frighteningly cold."

Back at the ramen bar, Itachi merely nodded. A small smile appeared over his lips.

* * *

"WHAT!! What is the meaning of this?!"

The scream was so loud that Sasuke was awoken from his deep slumber that night. He immediately recognized the voice as his father's, the tone of which meant that he was mad about something. Curiosity took the best of the eleven-year-old kid making him stand up from his bed and wander down the dark corridors of the Uchiha household. 'What are they doing so late at night with the lights turned off?'

It only took a moment before Sasuke reached the reception room and from the light and shadows coming out from the thin paper walls, he guessed that the rest of his family was there discussing something important. The boy crept quietly and opened the door just enough so that he could eavesdrop on them.

"It is exactly what is written on the document. I am resigning from the Anbu." Itachi said. His back was turned against the wall so Sasuke couldn't see the expression on his brother's face. On the other hand, their father looked angry and was clearly displeased while their mother was apprehensive.

"You don't understand where your position is." The head of the Uchiha clan said, crossing his arms.

Itachi merely turned his head down on the floor avoiding his father's gaze. Silence reigned within the room that moment, neither one uttering a word.

"Itachi..." It was the father that broke the ice. "You are the backbone that connects this family to the village. You have to be a useful connection. You understand that..." The middle-aged man made his eyes turn from black to red as he stared at his son. "...right?"

"Hai."

"Good. Then go to hokage-sama's office first thing in the morning and have your resignation revoked." His father continued.

Itachi clenched his fist. He knew that this would happen. Silence reigned once more as he focused his thoughts on things, more precisely, his goal. 'If I cannot stand up now, I will be trapped like this for the rest of my life.' With new found determination, Itachi looked up and faced his father eye to eye. "I cannot do that."

"What?!"

"I have already given my word to hokage-sama and I cannot take it back. I'm sorry, father, but I am not the connection that the Uchiha needed."

"What are you saying?!" The head of the Uchiha screamed in disbelief, his voice growing louder.

"I am terribly sorry for failing to meet your expectations." Itachi said, bowing his head. "However, there is someone I know who can become an even more useful connection for the clan if given the proper attention."

"Who are you referring to?" His father asked.

Itachi continued face forward, not caring to look at the door behind him. "Sasuke, don't just stand there. Come inside."

"O...okay..." Sasuke slid the door open and hesitantly stepped inside the room

Both parents were surprised to see their younger son standing by the door. The truth was they did not feel Sasuke's presence and had absolutely no knowledge that he was eavesdropping at their conversation. Sasuke walked in and proceeded to sit next to his brother.

"Sasuke is a talent that you happened to overlook, father." Itachi explained. "He has been constantly training himself to become stronger so that he could prove himself worthy in your eyes. He is someone who will do anything for the clan in exchange for your acknowledgement."

Sasuke looked up at his brother. He was quite embarrassed that his brother was speaking highly of him to their father.

Itachi, on the other hand, did not return his glance and kept his eyes fixed on their father. The expression on the young jounin's face was impassive and he continued in all seriousness, "In that sense he will be a better connection that me."

The head of the Uchiha eyed his younger son with such intensity that made Sasuke shrink before his presence. He was carefully sizing up Sasuke's viability to become Itachi's replacement. The man sighed before gazing back towards Itachi. "Why are you doing this? What are you really planning to do?"

"I'm going to teach a genin team. Being an Anbu requires me to frequently take missions outside the village that I will not have enough time for my student so I decided to quit." Itachi said.

Learning of the fact that his brother had given away his job as Anbu captain, something that any random shinobi would kill for to have, just to hang out all day with some kid was something Sasuke did not expect. For one, he thought that his brother think of kids as a nuisance noting the way he always treated him. However, deep inside a fang of jealousy vent from his heart for the lucky kid who would get to be with the brother he always wanted to spend time with.

"And who are these kids? Is one of them an Uchiha?" Their father asked again.

"No." Itachi shook his head. "However, he is one of a kind. A rough diamond."


	5. Chapter 5: Shortcuts

Rants: I'd like to address the most asked question in the reviews: How come Naruto graduated with Lee's batch and be with Sasuke's class? Actually that's a question I've been asking myself about the manga/anime.

It was explicitly mentioned that Naruto failed the graduation exam 3 times so you'd expect him be with the batch ahead of Lee's when he first took the exam and subsequently, he should be only classmates with Sasuke and the others for one year, the time he failed the exam but was passed by Iruka following the Mizuki incident. If that's the case, I actually found it a bit odd that in the many flashbacks Naruto is shown to be classmates with the rookie nine since he was probably as young as Konohamaru is noting to the way he and the kids are drawn. Of course that is just my opinion. If it's flawed then I'm sorry but I am basing the story on that. Don't worry I'll give my own explaination to this dilema in the Sasuke chapter so do look forward to it, 'kay?

Oh and please excuse this little sidetrack. I really love the hokage's honored grandson so I'm sticking him in a bit. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

"Brother."

Itachi was sitting on the elevated floor before the door leading out of the Uchiha household. He had just finished putting on his sandals when he heard his little brother call him. He turned his head around glancing at the young boy who was standing a couple of steps away. "Father will personally train you from now on. Why don't you go bother him instead?"

"I didn't come to ask about the shuriken training." Sasuke said.

"Last night, why did you have to say such things in front of father?"

"That was what you always wanted, wasn't it?"

"Yes. But I wanted to earn father's acknowledgement in my own way. That's the reason why I trained myself hard all these years. I believed that if I become stronger than you then father will acknowledge and depend on me too. Doing something like that..." Sasuke yelled at his brother in a sudden outburst of emotion. "You just made all my efforts seem worthless!"

Itachi studied the look on his little brother's face. "Beginning today, Father will be depending on you to do your best for the clan. You are going to become the important connection for Uchiha. You have to meet his and the clan's high expectations. Thinking in that sense, your efforts has not been wasted."

An uncomfortable silence reigned between the two. During that time Sasuke debated with himself, considering his brother's word which he knew deep down was perfectly true and on the other side, his pride to stand up on his own and prove everyone his worth. It was when Itachi finally stood up, his back turned against his little brother, and reached to slide their front door open that the younger Uchiha spoke up. "Can you help me with my shuriken training, at least for today?" He said feeling his expression soften.

"My genin team is waiting for me. I don't have time to look after you." Itachi said walking out of the front door and was shortly out of sight.

Sasuke raised his hand to feel his forehead. 'He didn't even poke my forehead...' The young Uchiha continued to stare at the open doorway, his face falling into a sad frown.

* * *

Naruto ran into the woods early that morning wandering about until he reached the clearing Itachi mentioned last night was to be their designated meeting place. The vendo machine unscrupulously placed in an area where people don't usually wander to told him that he was standing at the right spot.

"You're late," was the greeting that first came Naruto's way.

The blonde glared angrily at the teenage jounin sitting on a fallen log with his arms crossed over his chest. "I'm not late! I'm early!" Naruto yelled.

Itachi merely grunted in response. He stood up and went to approach his new student.

"Ne, ne, Itachi-sensei! What cool stuff are you going to teach me?" Naruto began, sounding thoroughly excited about their first training day. As he spoke, the boy recalled several events from yesterday's genin test, most of which are quite painful. "Are you going to teach me that awesome fire breathing jutsu?!"

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Justu!!" Naruto remembered a large mass of flames coming forth from Itachi's mouth and engulfing all his clones. Each clone erupted into smoke as soon as the fire came into contact with them.

"Or maybe that weird water shield jutsu?!"

"Ninpou Suiton: Suijinheki." Two pillars of water rose from the nearby river and quickly snaked its way towards Itachi destroying any Naruto clone that got in its way. The water gathered around Itachi forming a protective dome that prevented every single shuriken from hurting him.

"Or?! Or?! Maybe that big wave jutsu that goes SPLASH!!"

The dome slowly rose to become a tall tower of water. "Suiton: Suishouha." Itachi announced from inside the water formation. The column then broke down sending massive amounts of water to flood the entire training field taking out all one thousand Naruto clones.

"So what's it going to be? Huh? Huh, Itachi-sensei?" Naruto asked brightly his blue eyes shining with anticipation.

"We will start with you running laps around the village." Itachi said.

"Running laps?" Naruto repeated, his voice losing enthusiasm. "But that sounds lame. Why don't we just start off with the neat stuff? I can handle them you know."

Itachi sighed and poked Naruto on the forehead, something that's slowly becoming a habit. Good thing Naruto ties his hite-ate on the supposed traditional spot that it didn't hurt at all. "Listen Naruto-kun, yesterday's test wasn't only to see whether a student qualifies as genin or not, it was also done so that the jounin senseis could see the way a prospective genin fights and analyze it for weaknesses that needed to be fixed as well as strengths that could be improved. Basically we do it to assess a genin's over-all potential."

"Hmm..." Naruto crossed his arms in silence appearing to be deep in thought. His sudden outburst shocked Itachi more than what he let pass his skin. The boy was running around, jumping and yelling energetically. "So I have a ton of potential right, right?! I knew it! I am incredible!"

"From yesterday's test, I can say that you have power and a lot of stamina. Your body can also endure heavy punishments." Itachi perfectly recalled Naruto fighting style thanks to his Sharingan eyes. He particularly credited Naruto for managing to last the entire half day of his torturous beating. "However, you don't have much speed and all you do was throw your arms and legs haphazardly. You don't have proper flow and execution. Simply put, your taijutsu sucks."

Naruto frowned and glared reproachfully at the young jounin for the unpleasant comment. "Hey! Hey! What was that supposed to mean?! Besides, I don't suck! I got that bell, didn't I?!"

"That body of yours is certainly one of your good points so that's what we are going to polish off first. This exercise is specifically made for that purpose. Ninjutsu and taijutsu training can wait until later." Itachi explained.

"Hmm..." Naruto muttered crossing his arms once again. He was clearly doubtful about the whole setup. Just how was he supposed to get any better from running laps anyway when he already have a strong body to begin with?

"I'll teach you an advance jutsu if you complete this training." Itachi followed noting the look on the boy's face. He didn't want to resort to bribery but doing so might actually motivate the kid. Thankfully enough, that proved to do job as Naruto's face brightened once more.

"Promise?" Naruto asked. When he saw his sensei nod, the foxy kid regained his enthusiasm and energetically raised his fist in the air. "Alright! I'll finish the laps quickly! Then I'll finally learn some really cool jutsus! Hehehe... This is going to be fun."

"Naruto-kun, look deeply into my eyes." Itachi commanded.

Naruto raised his head up and focused on Itachi's now blood red eyes. There was a sensation that swept throughout his entire body, something that he couldn't quite explain. Then without a word, Naruto suddenly fell face first on the ground. "Ouch! What the hell..." Naruto wanted to rub his sore chin but when he mentally ordered his hand to move he found the task very difficult to perform. "What's going on around here?! I can't move my arms!" Naruto tried to get up and also found that to be extremely difficult as well. It was like some invisible force was applying a huge amount of pressure all over his entire body. "What did you do to me, Itachi-sensei?!" The blonde screamed panicking.

"Tell me, how do you feel?" Itachi asked indifferently.

"I feel heavy." Naruto answered. He tried to stand up once more and fell flat on his face after he'd only managed to pull himself up on all fours.

"Good. That will be your first exercise."

"What kind of exercise is this?! I can barely move!" Naruto complained aloud. The fact that the heaviness affecting his entire body, including his mouth, failed to prevent the kid from being obnoxiously loud was really astonishing.

"Now go run five laps around the village." Itachi instructed.

"WHAT!!" Naruto exclaimed in disbelief.

"Get up. I want to finish this before the sun sets."

"I can do this! Hmmmmppphhhh!" Naruto sounded while dishing out all his efforts fighting the heaviness of his body. This time he managed get up until only his two feet were left in contact with the ground. That was when his knees buckled under the weight making the boy collapse once more. He tilted his head, looking up at the young man towering right next to him. "Ne Itachi-sensei, can you at least help me up?"

"No. You will wear that feeling every time from now on – when you eat, sleep, train, even when you're out on a mission. It will not disappear. That is something that you need to get your body accustomed to." Itachi flashed a cold, dead serious look on his student. "You're a ninja. Stand up on your own."

"Hmph! I can do this. You just watch." Naruto pouted. He pulled himself up for the last time and managed to get himself up on his feet. His legs wobbled from the weight it had to support but somehow his efforts managed to keep him upright. Next, Naruto tried moving his right leg. That was one grueling experience. Naruto was like a baby who was learning to walk for the first time in his life. He completed the first step and immediately repeated the process with his left leg for the next step.

All in all, their first training went on a very slow pace literally but it was as exhausting as hell. Naruto was taking about a minute or so just to make a single step forward. He also fell down from time to time and the effort of trying to get back up was very taxing. A flood of profanities and curses came out of the boy's mouth for most of the time; one being particularly loud was when his face almost fell right on top of dog shit. He had been cursing so loud that nearby parents covered their children's ears and shot glares at Naruto.

Itachi, who was right beside Naruto the entire time, deep down was feeling a bit embarrassed for his student's behavior although his face maintained the cold visage that told anyone who looked that he didn't give a damn about any of them.

"You only made it halfway around the village." Itachi said his voice was somewhat disappointed. Looking up, the sky was now colored with a dark orange hue after the sun had completely hidden itself down the horizon.

"I feel like tons of weights are pressing all over my body! How am I supposed to run around like this?" Naruto complained, raising his arm sharply and pointing straight at Itachi in a sudden burst of energy.

"If you haven't wasted energy complaining the whole day you should have had enough to make it through the village at least once." Itachi answered making Naruto gulp. "Anyway, today's training is over. Go home and rest. I expect to see you again at the woods at exactly the same time tomorrow morning." With that, Itachi turned his back at Naruto and walked down the path heading towards the part of the village that was occupied mostly by Uchihas.

Naruto proceeded to march towards his own apartment. Thankfully it wasn't far from the place where Itachi dismissed him so the commute only took him a little over an hour, something that would only have taken him less than five minutes if not for his current condition. Earlier that day, Naruto had plans on eating at the Ichiraku to celebrate his first training day but now he was feeling tired as hell that he crossed the idea off his mind. A good sleep was what he needed – urgently.

Naruto stepped inside his apartment and heard his stomach growl loudly in hunger. The boy looked to the left where the bed was. It looked really inviting. He was really tempted to prop over for an early doze but then his stomach growled the second time around demanding some much needed food. "Oh well, a cup ramen or two wouldn't hurt much," he thought aloud marching his way to the kitchen to prepare a quick dinner.

Naruto reached inside the cupboard for the instant ramen but when he tried to lift it, he felt that something was obviously wrong. "What the...?" Naruto reached for the styrofoam cup this time with both hands and pulled it off with all his remaining strength. The cup ramen slid off his hands and rolled along the floor like it the way normally does greatly confusing the blonde. Naruto walked over to pick it up but was again met with the same difficulty. "Dammit! Why does this thing feel so heavy?!" Indeed, to Naruto lifting the cup ramen felt like trying to lift a twenty kilogram solid steel cup. Too bad Naruto was not the type to give up that easily. Pulling out his remaining strength, he finally managed to drag the cup noodle all the way to the table.

"Whew! Alright, next is the hot water!" Naruto exclaimed wiping the sweat trickling down his face. He went back to the kitchen to pick up the thermos bottle and was surprised when he found it to be a lot of times heavier than the cup ramen. "Argh!! How am I supposed to make ramen like this?!" He yelled in frustration after almost losing grip of the thermos bottle. Just like the cup ramen, Naruto dragged the thermos bottle all the way to the table. On the task of filling the cup ramen with hot water, Naruto had to use all his effort in holding the container up so that the boiling water would flow down and balancing it so that the contents would not spill.

For someone whose stomach was constantly growling, a three minute wait seemed like an eternity. Naruto completely tore the lid off and marveled at the sight of the delicious ramen waiting for him to devour. "Itadakemasu!" He said aloud. However, when Naruto reached out for the chopsticks on the table he stopped when the chopsticks wouldn't even budge when he applied the force he usually does to move it. He had to triple the strength he had to use on his right hand to lift the chopsticks. Finally, when he went to fish out his ramen, the force being applied by the chopsticks upon clamping the soggy noodles was too much that the noodles would cut and fall back into the Styrofoam cup. "Dammit!! Why is this happening to me?!"

By the time Naruto got the hang of it the ramen had already cooled down. Naruto even found the noodles heavy when he dunked it in his mouth though it still taste the same and was as easy to chew as before, something that struck him as odd. 'This is a pain! Damn you Itachi-sensei, you bastard!' He thought placing several more strings of noodles in his mouth. Never did he realize that eating ramen could be so satisfying especially when done with a lot of effort.

After being totally worn out from dinner, Naruto walked straight towards his bed. He was so exhausted that he didn't even bother to take off his clothes and just collapsed right over the soft cushion. Naruto never felt it provide so much comfort before than it did now that he immediately drifted to dream world.

* * *

The strange training regimen continued for the rest of the week. Naruto was slowly getting used to the weird heaviness of everything around him. It was only after the fifth day that he successfully managed to complete a whole lap around the village. Now that it was starting rub into him, running around didn't prove to be as hard compared to how it was the first time he was subjected to this strange jutsu. Although it was still very much tiring.

That afternoon, Itachi and Naruto were both sitting under the shade of a large tree. Lunch break wasn't a very comfortable experience for both of them due to the hot summer sun hanging up on the cloudless sky that time. Also, all they had to eat was some cheap bento that they bought earlier from a stall the two of them happened to pass by along one of Naruto's laps. Naruto was actually miserable that they didn't get to buy ramen but with the rigorous training, his stomach would just accept anything.

"Naruto-kun." Itachi began catching the blonde's attention. "We will cut the training short for today."

"Why is that, Itachi-sensei?"

"Hokage-sama wanted you to report at the administration building this afternoon."

"Hokage-jiisan wants to see me?" Naruto asked curiously, pointing at himself for emphasis.

Itachi nodded. "Finish your business there quickly. Afterwards you can take the day off."

Naruto reported to the administration building immediately after lunch where he was lead inside a fairly large room which was mostly empty save for a couple of furniture. He was sitting on the chair at the middle of the room while behind the desk situated several steps from him sat the hokage.

"What do you want old man?" Naruto asked.

"I want you to fill these up." Sandaime pushed the several inches thick stack of paper lying over his desk slightly towards the boy's direction.

"What are those? Didn't I already finish up with the registration form?"

"They are for your insurance, tax, social security and so on. These may not be as confidential as the ninja registration form but they are just as important since you will need them for your obligations as well as to avail of the different social services as a citizen of the Hidden Leaf Village and of the Fire Country. Now that you're earning wages as a professional shinobi you are required by law to submit these," explained the Hokage. "Go on and fill them up"

"I don't understand any of that stuff." Naruto commented. "Anyway, I can't waste my time with those! I have to continue training!"

"Fill them up." Sandaime stated firmly.

"No way!" Naruto blatantly refused.

"Fill them up." The hokage said again.

Both man and boy stared intently at each other, neither one standing down. Naruto gritted his teeth at the old man's stubbornness and formed a hand seal. "Oiroke no Jutsu!" There was the usual puff of smoke when Naruto transformed into a beautiful, perfectly proportioned and totally naked babe. "Hokage-sama, please..." The girl purred.

Sandaime blinked twice at the beautiful sight that lay right before his eyes before a powerful jet of blood gushed out from his nostril. Naruto dispelled the jutsu scratching the back of his head as he watched the great hokage-sama twitching on the floor from severe blood lost.

The hokage recovered several minutes later though and was now wiping his nose blood free. "The Oiroke no Jutsu again? What a stupid jutsu..." The old man was left hanging in his speech because at that time both occupants felt a presence from right behind the door. Sure enough, the door slide open and little boy immediately barged inside the room.

"Old man! Fight me!" The seven year old boy called out running towards the hokage with a shuriken in hand.

Sandaime could only heave a sigh watching the kid's antics. 'Geez, this is the twentieth ambush today. Does it ever end?'

"The title of Godaime Hokage belongs to me, Konohamaru!" The boy said aloud. He was halfway towards the hokage when he tripped and fell face first against the floor. Right at that instance, a man with sunglasses came rushing into the room. "Dammit! Who set up a trap?!" Konohamaru asked to no one in particular, one hand clutching his painful face.

"Are you alright, young master?" The man, Ebisu, asked aloud sounding quite alarmed. "By the way, I don't see a trap anywhere."

'Who is this kid?' Naruto mentally asked himself, eyebrows twitching. He noticed the kid looked up and turned at his direction.

"Hey you!" Konohamaru marched and pointed accusingly at Naruto. "I know it! You did something, didn't you?!"

A large knot of nerve suddenly appeared on Naruto's forehead. He quickly got up and snatched a handful of the insolent brat's clothing with one swipe. "You just tripped on your own, you idiot!!" He yelled angrily threatening to hit the kid with his clenched fist.

"Naruto! Let go of him!" Ebisu yelled causing Naruto to dart his attention at him. "That's the great Sandaime Hokage-sama's grandson!"

"..." Naruto shifted his gaze from Ebisu to the hokage who silently watching the scene and back to the small brat before him.

'He stopped right after finding out that I'm the grandson of the hokage. Hmph! He's just the same as glasses-teacher and everyone else.' Konohamaru deduced. His conclusion made him switch into brat mode once more. "What's the matter?! Why don't you hit me?! You're no match for the grandson of the hokage!"

Those words set Naruto burning anew. He lifted his fist and planted it furiously into Konohamaru's skull. "Like I care about that, you moron!!"

"What?!" A greatly shocked Ebisu screamed.

The old man sighed and shook his head at the unruly sight. "Oh well..."

* * *

Naruto finally finished completing all those documents and had been dismissed by the hokage. Having nothing else to do for the rest of the day, Naruto decided to head back to woods and train some more. However, he had this terrible feeling that he was being followed since he left the administration building and whoever it was, was doing a terrible job at it.

Naruto suddenly came to a stop and turned slightly around. What he saw several paces away was a bundle of blanket probably done to look like a huge rock on the road or something. But the most striking feature Naruto noticed was the pair of small sandaled feet sticking below the so-called rock. "Hmm?" Naruto hummed, appearing to be deep in thought. Moments later, he merely shrugged it off and continued on his way.

Konohamaru threw the blanket away and resumed to following the older boy. A couple of minutes more and Naruto found it to be unbearably annoying that he made a swift turn around. "Stop following me! What the hell do you want?!"

Soft snickering was heard from along the tall wooden fences.

"Um, that's really obvious." Naruto said eyeing the camouflage blanket that was placed haphazardly so its lines were horizontal instead of the vertical ones of the fences. Furthermore, long spiky hair was standing out on top of it and the hands holding it are quite visible.

"Hehe... You saw through my disguise, impressive. So the humors I've heard about you are true." Konohamaru said finally showing himself. He approached Naruto and pointed demandingly at him. "Hey you! I'll let you be my boss! But in exchange, teach me that Oiroke no Jutsu you used to defeat grandpa with!"

"Dream on, kid." Naruto simply crossed his arms. He absolutely had no intention of teaching his most powerful jutsu to anyone, especially not to some random brat.

"Don't say that boss!" Konohamaru exclaimed.

Looking a bit confused, Naruto turned at the little kid pointing a finger at himself. "Boss?"

"Boss! Boss! Boss!" The hokage's grandson exclaimed repeatedly.

Hearing himself being called by something like that was quite flattering. How could he refuse the kid now? "Fine..." Naruto said scratching the back of his head assenting to the condition. "Listen, there are two things that you need to have in order to use a jutsu well."

"Chakra and hand seals, right?"

Naruto shook his head. "No. It's hard work and guts. I'll train you hard so prepare yourself."

Konohamaru nodded determinedly. "Yes boss!"

"Alright then, try using henge now. I need to see how good your ninjutsu is." Naruto explained.

"But what should I change into?" Konohamaru asked.

Naruto scouted around until he caught sight of a beautiful young woman buying apples from a nearby stall. "Okay, try changing into that woman."

"Henge!" A cloud of smoke quickly covered Konohamaru as soon as he executed the hand seal. "So? Do I look like her?" The kid asked. When the smoke faded, instead of someone sexy and beautiful what stood before Naruto was an obese and horribly deformed version of the girl Konohamaru was trying to change into.

"S-sure... The clothes look perfect..." was all that Naruto could say. Well aside from that, Konohamaru also got the hair color right which more than what he could praise the kid for. Suddenly, a strong foreboding feeling had fallen before him.

"What's so similar...?!"

Naruto turned around and saw the said woman standing behind him. There was no time for him to try and dodge the solid smack that came against his skull. With his body under the effect of Itachi's strange jutsu, Naruto felt the woman's fist was as heavy as a several kilogram solid steel ball that it literally flattened him against the ground.

"Listen young master, please do a cuter henge when you transform into me." The woman giggled, waved at Konohamaru before going on her way.

"She's scary..." Konohamaru commented once the woman was out of earshot. He was still trembling after witnessing the violent display.

"Why did I have to be hit...?" complained a beaten up Naruto.

* * *

Later, the duo was found standing outside the local bookstore. "Alright! We're going to conduct our research here!" Naruto said aloud.

"Roger boss!"

Naruto slowly slid the door open. Fortunately, the store keeping was deep asleep and was snoring loudly that sneaking inside the bookstore didn't come as a problem. Naruto lead Konohamaru directly to the adults section and immediately began browsing through the number of smut material. Both boys were sporting broad grins at the pictures of lewdly posed girls until Naruto heard a familiar voice from behind.

"I told you that there's no browsing in the store, Naruto!"

Whack! Naruto landed painfully on the road after being thrown out from the shop by the store manager. "It hurts..." He moaned pulling himself to a sitting position and rubbing his sore head.

"Boss! Are you okay?!" Konohamaru called worriedly quickly running next to Naruto.

"Oi Naruto, what are you doing here? Where's Itachi?" Both Naruto and Konohamaru looked up and saw a man wearing a Police Force uniform towering over them. "More importantly, why do you have a large black eye?"

"You! You're Itachi-sensei stupid looking sidekick!" Naruto exclaimed aloud.

"It's Shisui, dammit." Shisui hissed. He felt his irritation build up but he made the effort to keep it at bay. He doesn't want to end up killing the brat or Itachi will surely have his head. Looking sideways, Shisui glanced at the store's signboard which read: Pink Bookstore. "What are you doing in there anyway? Don't you know that this place sells porn and stuff like that?"

"I know that!" Naruto huffed. He stood back up and started dusting himself.

"Oh?" Shisui sounded intrigued. A mischievous started to spread across his face as he looked down at Naruto with an eyebrow raised. "So this means you're an e-ro-ga-ki." He said teasingly.

"SHUT UP!!!" Naruto screamed aloud his face flushing in anger. "I'm not a pervert! We're here on a research for the Oiroke no Jutsu!"

"Yeah! Yeah! How dare you call boss an Ero Gaki!"

"Boss?" Shisui turned at the small kid beside Naruto which he happened to overlook until now. "Oh, it's you young master. Very well, I'll help you guys on your research."

"Really?" Both boys exclaimed.

Shisui nodded smiling at the two. The jounin move closer and whispered something into the blonde's ear.

Naruto's face beamed at the sudden realization. "That's right! Why didn't I even think of that before?! Arigatou, Shisui-san!" He bowed in gratitude. "Let's go, Konohamaru!" Naruto called out and the two boys immediately made a dash right across town. Soon, both of them are standing in front of the famous bathhouse in the hot spring district of Konoha. "This is the place! Let's put our best into it!" He said turning at Konohamaru.

"Roger boss!"

"Henge!" Naruto and Konohamaru both shouted executing the jutsu at the same time. Naruto transformed into a cute girl with long blonde ponytails while Konohamaru became an overly fat and ugly woman. The two nodded at each other before making their way into the woman's bath. So far everything has been going very smoothly until...

"Naruto! You again?!"

The woman's bath erupted into something short of a riot. Slaps, kicks and punches coming from the mob of angry women were all directed at Naruto. After the last woman hit him squarely on the face with a broom, Naruto practically flew out of the roof and landed face first on the stone pathway outside the baths.

"Ouch... How come everyone suddenly became so strong...?" The blonde complained rubbing his aching back. "I feel like being repeatedly kicked by a hundred bulls or so..." Naruto stopped at the mention of the word 'bull' which seemed to have a connection with the sound of hoofs striking against the ground that he has been hearing for quite sometime now. Looking behind, Naruto discovered that he landed right in front of the shed were bulls are being kept and unfortunately for him these bulls seemed to have locked their eyes unto the red circular marking on the backside of his jacket.

"NOOO!!!" Naruto screamed running for his dear life as the bulls started to give chase. The villagers quickly ducked for cover as they streaked by the neighborhood while all the other bulls that they so happened to pass decided to joined the stampede meaning more trouble for Naruto. "Why the hell is this happening to me?!" Naruto screamed. 'Dammit! I feel so heavy I can barely keep up with this pace! If I don't think of something soon I'll die!'

Good thing his brain decided to work at exactly the right time it was needed. "I know! Kagebunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto said creating a sizeable number of clones. "Everyone! Go and try to lose the bulls!" The real Naruto instructed. The clones nodded and separated into three groups upon reaching the next fork on the road.

Naruto and his group of clones continued running until they took the next turn. Bad choice. "Dammit! A dead end!" The real Naruto said aloud with everyone coming to a halt.

"This way!" A clone suggested pointing at the alley to the left. Too bad they saw dust rising from the far end and sure enough one group of Naruto clones and their bull pursuers were stampeding their way towards them.

"No! This way!" Another clone said pointing this time to the right. Naruto was about to lead them in there until he heard some panicked shouting that was definitely his voice. Seconds later and the other group of shadow clones were seen coming out from the alley tailed closely by the herd of raging cattle.

Right now, Naruto was both sweating and trembling heavily. From each side his clones and their bulls are converging towards him and looking back the bulls that they were trying to lose was now fast gaining on them. "WAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

* * *

Itachi could clearly see a cloud of dust rise at some part of the village from the open platform atop the administration building.

"Hey what's this? You're slacking off from teaching already."

Itachi did not care to turn towards the source of the voice. Shortly, Shisui came by and stood right next to him.

"I saw Naruto this afternoon. From the way he moved, it looked as if something was stuck up from underneath his ass." Shisui glanced sideways at Itachi. "I'm sure you used it on him, didn't you? The special sharingan genjutsu that you developed solely for training, that is."

"Yes." Itachi replied with a nod.

Shisui turned his eyes forward admiring the view of the village from up there. "Tell me, what level of the jutsu did you place on him?"

"The highest level."

"I see." Shisui nodded in understanding. "Right now both conscious and subconscious parts of Naruto's mind have been fooled into thinking that the gravity around him had become ten times greater than normal. Not only will his body feel ten times heavier so will everything around him – down to the very air he breathes."

"What the mind thinks, the body follows. That's the underlying principle of genjutsu. Naruto's body will be forced to react and develop with the effects of the imaginary excess in gravity. This is just like Gai-san's weight training, only a more modern and efficient way of doing it. However..." Shisui stared at Itachi with eyes that betrayed a little hint of disgust. "Subjecting his body under so much physical stress without prior conditioning, don't you think you're rushing things a little bit too much?"

"You will never reach new heights if you don't constantly push yourself to your limits," came Itachi's reply. He didn't even bother to cast a glance over his friend as he spoke. "Besides, Naruto-kun is coping up quite well. Actually his body is getting used to the sensation faster than I have expected. There is nothing to worry about."

Shisui dropped the hostility and turned his eyes back into the scenery before them. "I'll leave it at that. You're his sensei after all."

"What do you want from me? Surely you didn't come here to discuss about my pupil." Itachi said.

Shisui didn't say a word and simply pulled out a folder and handed it over the young jounin. Itachi took it and browsed through the contents. "I am no longer part of the Anbu. These shouldn't concern me anymore." He said closing the folder and handing the folder back to Shisui.

"Really? The last time I remember it was your idea to use that Mizuki traitor to ascertain Naruto's capacity."

"Well, it's okay. Your father's become quite interested in this that he asked hokage-sama to leave the handling of the case to the Police Force. More troublesome work if you ask me. Anyway, I'll keep you posted for more updat–"

'He moved.' Itachi thought midway through Shisui's speech as the presence he had been monitoring for quite some time had suddenly weakened. With a sudden burst of speed, Itachi practically disappeared before Shisui's normal eyes.

"Geez." Shisui muttered scratching the back of his head after being left alone in the observation deck. "That guy could be a real pain in the butt sometimes."

* * *

Naruto brought Konohamaru to his and Itachi-sensei's training spot where they practiced the Oiroke no Jutsu for the remainder of the day. Right now both boys were taking a break sitting on the fallen log drinking soda for refreshment.

"By the way, why are going after your grandpa so much?" Naruto asked. He noticed the look on Konohamaru's face suddenly saddened.

"Grandpa gave me the name Konohamaru. I'm named after the village. But even though it's a name that everyone should have heard many times, nobody ever calls me that. Whenever anyone looks at me or calls me, all they see is the grandson of the hokage. Nobody sees me as me. I hate that. That's why..." Konohamaru could only bang his own legs with his fist in mild indignation. "That's why I want the hokage title now!"

"Idiot." Naruto muttered turning his gaze straight on the bushes ahead. "Who's going to acknowledge a brat like you?"

"What?" Konohamaru exclaimed angrily.

"The hokage title isn't something that a brat like you can take. It's not that easy. Hokage, hokage... If you want that title so much then..."

"Then what?!"

Naruto sported a confident grin before facing Konohamaru. "Then kick my ass first!"

"I found you!"

Naruto and Konohamaru both turned towards the new voice's direction and found the elite tutor Ebisu standing atop a branch of a nearby tree. Unknown to any of them Itachi was watching everything clearly from his vantage on top another high branch several yards away. His presence perfectly masked and concealed.

"Young master, let's go home." Ebisu said after landing perfectly on the ground.

"No!" Konohamaru answered shaking his head. "I'm going to defeat grandpa and get the hokage title now! Don't bother me!"

"Hokage is a title you receive when you understand the principles of knowledge, morality, loyalty, camaraderie and mastering more than one thousand jutsus." Ebisu explained as he made his way towards the honored grandson.

Konohamaru gathered his resolve. "Henge!" There the usual smoke following the execution of the Henge no Jutsu but when it all cleared what was left was an astonishingly sexy and beautiful naked girl with grayish black hair. "Take that. Oiroke no Jutsu." The girl said.

The elite tutor's eyes bulged off their sockets, his mouth hanging wide at the sight that laid before him.

"Huh? It didn't work?" Konohamaru said reverting back to his true form.

"W-what a vulgar skill!" Ebisu screamed in outrage. "I am a gentleman! Such an indecent jutsu will never work against me!" The tokubetsu jounin grabbed Konohamaru's long scarf and started pulling the kid away. "Come, young master! You're only going to get dumber and dumber if you hang around him! I am your greatest short-cut to becoming hokage! Now let's go home!"

"No!" Konohamaru said resisting his tutor's pull as hard as he could.

"Kagebunshin no Jutsu!"

Both Ebisu and Konohamaru turned and saw Naruto produce about a hundred clones of himself that covered most of the training field.

"Wow!" Konohamaru was deeply amazed at the display.

"This is silly." Ebisu said shifting his glasses. He didn't seem to be affected at all by the sheer number of clones that stood before him. "I am an elite teacher even if I don't look like one. I am different from Mizuki." He began to step forward taking on the Naruto's challenge and immediately lowered himself into a battle stance.

Hidden away from sight, Itachi narrowed his eyes in anticipation. This was one opportunity for him to observe his student's capabilities.

'Damn! I can barely punch! I can't fight with this heaviness over my body!' Naruto mentally cursed. He had no other choice but to use his trump card. 'I'll have to use that jutsu.' "Henge!" The shadow clones yelled all at once transforming into a hundred Oiroke no Jutsu babes ready to seduce their poor victim, something that neither Konohamaru, Ebisu nor Itachi had expected.

"Ebisu-sama!" The girls cooed seductively latching themselves all over the elite tutor. Ebisu could no longer withstand the torture that he collapse both due to mental stress, a rigid hard on, and severe loss of blood from the excessive nose bleeding.

"Take that! I call it the Harem no Jutsu!" Naruto said releasing the combined Oiroke and Kagebunshin jutsus.

Back in his hiding place, Itachi's face burned as red as an overripe tomato from the extreme embarrassment. At least there was no one around to see the slip from the cool and calculated visage that he always tried to maintain. "What an idiot," were all that he could mutter at that time.

"Dammit! I couldn't even defeat megane-kyoushi! I want a name that will make everyone acknowledge me, so why?" Konohamaru seethed in frustration.

"It's not that easy, idiot." Naruto said whacking the brat lightly on the head. "This is the hokage name you're talking about, the ninja that everyone in the village acknowledges."

"Eh?"

"With so many unpleasant things I was often lost. I finally found people that will acknowledge me but finding just that was already very difficult." Naruto recalled. "You need to prepare yourself."

"Prepare?"

"If you want to receive the name hokage which everyone looks up to..." Naruto smiled at Konohamaru. "There isn't a shortcut to become one."

"Bah! Stop lecturing like you're big and all!" Konohamaru said turning his head away from the older boy. "You're not my boss anymore!"

"From now on we're rivals!" The younger boy continued sporting a large grin and raising a thumbs up.

Naruto nodded. "Alright. I'll fight you one day for the hokage name. Be sure to look forward to it, Konohamaru."

Itachi watched as Naruto walked away from the training grounds leaving the hokage's honored grandson. 'You're wrong, Naruto-kun. Even for a dream as grand as hokage, there will always be shortcuts for some people and only a long and uneasy path for the others...' He shook his head lightly before silently leaping up disappearing from sight. '...because the world was never fair to begin with.'


	6. Chapter 6: Hiding In The Storm

Rants: I've over ranted myself the last time so I'm keeping this short. Belated Happy Halloween to you guys!

* * *

Heavy rains and howling winds pounded the village that night. Through the darkness, two silhouettes leapt from roof to roof in their advance. A sudden flash of lightning momentarily illuminated the area revealing the shadows to be mere leaf shinobis.

"Damn it! Why do I have to be put on patrol duty in this storm?" One of them complained aloud, her long hair flying wildly against the violent winds.

"Don't worry! Our shift's done in about fifteen minutes!" The other, a man wearing a yellow raincoat over his standard shinobi uniform, called out as a loud boom of thunder boomed overhead.

"Good! I can't stand this cold any longer!"

The two shinobis abruptly stopped on their tracks when they saw a large explosion suddenly ripped from the side of the nearby administration building. Nodding at each other, the two quickly darted towards the scene. On the way, they saw a shadowy figure moving away from the blast site which from their estimate was trying to make it outside the village.

"STOP!!" The konoichi shouted moving in to intercept the enemy with her partner trailing closely behind. The figure, whoever he was, seemed to have heard the warning and shifted its path directly towards their direction. 'This night won't be a bore after all.' A smile curled on the woman's lips in anticipation of a fight.

The unknown person threw out a number of kunais that the two shinobis dodged with relative ease. Increasing his speed, the shadowy silhouette dashed straight towards the female ninja.

"You won't escape!" The konoichi yelled pulling out a kunai and thrusting it forward. The enemy, however, dodged the attack while continuing on his advance and landed a sharp elbow behind the woman's neck knocking her out cold. Her body slid limply along the slippery rooftop before falling down the edge towards the street below.

Angered for the attack on his partner, the male shinobi produced a set of shurikens and threw it at the enemy causing him to jump backwards as the bladed stars embedded themselves over the roof tiles. Both stopped and stood their ground while eyeing the other. A sudden bright flash of lightning revealed the enemy's features to the leaf shinobi. Standard uniform, flak vest, longish gray hair, and a leaf hite-ate shamelessly tied like a bandana over his head.

"You've got a lot of nerve to pull out a stunt like that when you're already on the run." He pulled out a pair of bladed iron knuckles and lowered his body into a battle ready stance. "You're not going anywhere, Mizuki."

Mizuki didn't offer a reply and began to charge forward. The other one followed his example. Both shinobis met and began trading blows with one another. A few seconds of fighting the leaf shinobi lay unmoving on the cold tile roof, eyes wide open. The rain grew heavier by the minutes masking Mizuki both in sight and sound as he moved further away fading into the darkness.

* * *

The weather finally calmed the next morning. Now that the storm has passed, the village with its citizenry was bustling full of activities once again. The same could also be said at the administration building where a number of shinobis, mostly from the Police Force, have flocked its blown down side and surrounding areas to investigate last night's incident.

"Geez, this is quite a mess." Shisui muttered inspecting the sizeable hole as a result of yesterday's explosion.

"Shisui."

"Yo. Nice weather today, isn't it?" Shisui said in greeting at the three Police Force shinobis that landed neatly behind him, all of which are Uchihas. "By the way, how are those two chuunins doing?"

The man with short jet black hair at the center harrumphed lightheartedly. "Hey, don't you go acting all bossy on us just because you've got a higher rank. If you piss us off, we'll kick your ass."

"Hai. Hai. Sempai." Shisui answered flashing a childish wide grin. The older man merely flicked his head in response after which he crossed his arms and turned his back around, his pair of watchful eyes keeping track of the various activities running around the place.

"They won't die. There weren't any major injuries inflicted on them except for the high fever they got from sleeping outside under the storm. The doctors said that they'll probably wake up as soon as their fever subsides which according to their estimates could be around sometime today or maybe tomorrow. Either way, it won't be long before we get our answers," Reported the police shinobi whose long black hair reached pass the shoulder.

"That's good."

The other police operative, the spiky-haired Uchiha who dyed his hair blonde looked up to observe the extent of the damage from the blast. "Who would have thought that that traitor could actually escape from a high-security prison and even defeat two chuunins on the way? Heh, last time I saw him his face was in quite a mess after picking up a fight with that demon brat."

Shisui merely shrugged. "Just like what a friend of mine used to say – don't judge others by your preconceptions and their appearance."

"Yeah right." The blonde Uchiha snorted disbelievingly. "What kind of idiot would make so much of a ruckus and attract attention to himself right after breaking from jail?"

"Well, he did attract attention in the exact way that he planned." Shisui offered. "The explosion was made as a diversion to lure all the shinobis on patrol towards the Administration Building and they did exactly just that leaving most of the village unguarded for his escape. The chuunins were probably on their way here at the blast site when they intercepted Mizuki a few blocks away from the outer walls."

"Hmph! Don't you think you're giving that traitor too much credit? Remember, he did get caught up with the patrols. I think if he didn't get lucky he would have ended right back in jail." The long haired police shinobi reminded him. He shook his head lightly, still unwilling to believe that Mizuki was able to pull such a feat.

"From the first look it would seem that his plan failed. However, the evidence from the scene suggests that the fight between them didn't last more than two minutes long so Mizuki probably didn't have any problems taking care of the two chuunins. After that, no additional encounters with him were reported. And to think that the walls were rigged with shinobi guards last night since storms are usually the best opportunity for enemy ninjas to sneak into the village due to poor visibility. With the guards' attention caught up, sneaking pass the walls should be a breeze especially for someone who knows the ins and outs of the village quite well." Shisui narrated explaining yesterday's scenario. He took a folder containing a record of all the gathered evidences and handed them over to the long haired Uchiha. "Anyway, he's probably running along the forest as we speak so I guess that's the end of the road for us." The young Uchiha continued with a shrug.

"What do you mean?"

"Simple. It means that unless those chuunins tell something interesting in their stories then I'm afraid this will be all there is to investigate. Every angle to the case has already been looked into and from what we can see this is just a simple breakout. There won't be anything we can do for the time being until Mizuki is capture and brought back to the village."

"Then dispatch several police squads and order them to search every nook and cranny of the forest for that traitor," suggested the blonde.

"No." Shisui answered firmly.

"Are you insane?! From what you said, that bastard will try to get out of the Fire Country. If he manages to cross the border then we won't be able to arrest him anymore. If we want to get him back we'll have to move now!" The blonde one said in protest.

"Actually our authority reaches only up to that wall." Shisui pointed towards the faraway outer walls of village. "The jurisdiction of the Konoha Police Force is strictly limited within the confines of the village. Outside that barrier we're completely powerless."

"So, you're saying that we there's nothing we can do about that traitor."

"Not exactly. A manhunt order was already been released to the Anbu early this morning and that's a totally different story from the Police Force. Just relax and let them do the dirty work for us. They'll get him back eventually. For now, you can focus on stalking Umino Iruka."

"And why should we do that?" The long haired Uchiha asked, his eyebrow raised.

"Because I said so." Shisui said in a derisive tone completely shoving his authority down the trio's throat. "I was planning on including Uzumaki Naruto on that surveillance but since he's constantly with Itachi then that'd just be a waste of time. Be sure to keep security on Iruka-san just in case something happens." A loud yawn later and he immediately turned heel and started to march away from the place.

"And where do you think you're going?" The tough looking one with the short hair asked with a frown, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I'm starving so I'll drop by the dango shop and then catch up on my reading." Shisui said pulling out a peach colored book with words Icha Icha Paradise written in bold letters over the cover and shamelessly flashing it at his men.

"You're slacking off again, you lazy bastard." The blonde said in disgust.

"Hey! Using this thing takes a lot of effort you know!" Shisui said pointing at the side of his head causing the three to scowl heavily at him. From the looks on their faces, it's clear that they wanted more than anything to give the brat an ass-whipping he'll never forget. "Besides, I'm sure to get a good tongue lashing from the captain later so I might as well enjoy my last moments to live." Shisui followed turning his back at the trio and proceeding to jump down the ledge before they could complain any further.

* * *

"Five laps around the village complete!" Naruto exclaimed triumphantly after reaching the training ground that afternoon. He quickly whipped around and run towards Itachi who was waiting by the log. "Itachi-sensei! I already finished the exercise! What's next on the training? I hope it's a cool jutsu! I can't wait!" He said excitedly.

"You're going to climb trees."

"What?! Another stupid exercise?!" Naruto said in disbelief.

Itachi raised his hand and poked the loud boy on the forehead first before anything else. "Naruto-kun, you have the largest chakra capacity compared to the other genins your age so you should be able to pull out the most number of jutsus, including the advance ones that drain up a huge amount of chakra which even most chuunins will have difficulty handling." He particularly remembered how Naruto gathered so much chakra in his last bid to take the bell back at the genin test that his entire body was glowing in a bright, bluish light also causing the wind to blow unnaturally around them. "This is your other good point."

"Haha! I knew it! I really am the most improve one in the village! I'm a real genius! Hahahaha!" Naruto interjected boastfully.

"On the other hand, your chakra control is far worst." Itachi continued making Naruto's expression fall. "When using a jutsu, I estimate that you use more than twice the needed amount. That wastes a lot of energy which is crucial in a life or death combat situation. Your chakra control is what we are going to polish next so that you'll learn to use that large chakra capacity of yours more effectively."

"But you promised me last time that you'll teach me a cool new move after I finish with the laps! Itachi-sensei, you liar!" Naruto protested.

'Brother, you liar!' Itachi perfectly recalled what his little brother used to say every time he breaks his promise to help Sasuke on his shuriken training or to teach him new moves. Memories such as this made a small smile appear on the jounin's lips which vanished just as quickly.

"Besides, I know how to use my chakra effectively! Watch!" The foxy kid continued forming a set of hand seals for a demonstration. A large puff of smoke later and Naruto stood with four other clones beside him. "How's that, Itachi-sensei?"

Itachi sighed at his student's impatience. "Fine. Let's have a little game."

"What game?" All five Narutos asked at the same time.

"If you manage to hit me at least once, I will acknowledge that you have excellent chakra control and I'll teach you that advance jutsu I promised. You can use whatever jutsu you have. It won't make any difference." Itachi explained. He remained standing upright, not bothering to lower himself into a battle stance while the Naruto clones surround him.

"Ha! This won't last a minute! Get ready Itachi-sensei! Here I come!" The Narutos charged towards Itachi coming from all directions. Two shadow clones throw a punch from behind the jounin but before their fists could make contact, Itachi crouched down and knock the two with one powerful leg sweep. The clones immediately dispelled into small clouds of smoke after hitting the ground.

Itachi then somersaulted backwards evading the two Naruto clones that tried to kick him from either sides before landing perfectly on his feet. When he looked up he saw that the real Naruto was already within an arm's length from him.

"Take this!" Naruto yelled throwing a punch straight towards the young Uchiha's jaw. Itachi however shifted sideways and the punch passed his head harmlessly much to Naruto's dismay. Itachi grabbed the boy's outstretched arm and placed a powerful knee on his gut causing Naruto to fall down on his knees, hands clutching his pained abdomen while gasping out for lost breath.

The two remaining shadow clones had somewhat miraculously maintained form even when the real body was beaten and went to attack the black clad teen. Itachi remained on his spot and swatted the clones aside with swipes from both arms causing them to disperse into puffs of smoke. The Uchiha prodigy then glanced down at his blonde student. "I thought you were going to defeat me in less than a minute?" He said in a tone full of mockery.

Naruto tilted his head up meeting Itachi with a very determined stare. "I'm not done yet!" The boy quickly made a long backward jump landing several feet away. He invoked Kagebunshin once again and this time created about a hundred or so clones that covered most of the training grounds. "This time I'm serious! I'm going to make you teach me that advance jutsu right now!"

The color of the sky had completely turned from bright blue to red orange. On the ground lay a badly beaten Naruto. His entire body was covered with dirt and bruises. Panting heavily, Naruto mustered enough strength to look up to his sensei who just stopped right next to him. "I...I-m not done y...yet..." He muttered weakly.

"Kagebunshin disperses chakra equally but instead of only the needed amount, you channel about twice more chakra into each clone. Your continued use of the jutsu coupled with the number of clones you create with each use summed up to the huge total of chakra wasted. You only fared this far because you have a massive chakra capacity to begin with." Itachi explained. "If you only had better chakra control, this fight would have lasted well into the night and maybe by that time, you might have actually landed a punch."

Naruto nodded, finally understanding his sensei's point. He pulled himself up to a sitting position eyes still locked on the man towering before him. "What should I do then, Itachi-sensei?"

Itachi turned around and walked over to a nearby tree. Everything had been perfectly normal until Itachi began to walk up the tall tree vertically with only his two feet in contact with the wooden trunk. He continued to walk upside down into a large outlying branch.

"WOW! That's so cool!" Naruto exclaimed as he watched the amazing feat.

"This exercise will teach you how to control chakra effectively. The main purpose of this training is to teach you how to accumulate the right amount of chakra at the right place. This is quite difficult even for well-trained ninjas. Secondly, you will learn how to maintain chakra. In battle, ninjas usually gather chakra most of the time while being constantly on the move. These types of situations make it even more difficult to control chakra." Itachi explained.

Naruto nodded unattentively. 'Geez, Itachi-sensei is just like hokage-jiisan, always getting worked out on lectures.'

"Gather chakra at the bottom of your feet and make it stick on the tree trunk. The amount of chakra needed to climb the tree is small but it must be exact. It is said that the bottom of the feet is the hardest place to gather chakra so theoretically if you learn how to do this exercise then you can master any kind of justu."

"Really?! I can learn any jutsu if I can do that tree climbing thing?!" Naruto asked aloud, his voice ringing with enthusiasm.

"Yes." Itachi answered with a nod. He pulled out a kunai from the holster in his leg and tossed it before Naruto. "Use that kunai to mark how high you can make it up the tree then try to make a new mark above that mark. With your current abilities, you won't be able to climb by walking so get some momentum and run up the tree. Do you understand?"

"Hah this is easy!" Naruto bragged while picking up the kunai. "I'll climb that tree in a flash since I'm the most improved one in the village!"

Itachi glanced at the sky seeing the sun hide itself halfway down the horizon. "It's still around five in the afternoon so we still have about an hour of practice to go."

"I'll get this thing done before six! Here I go!" Naruto dashed towards the tree next to Itachi's and as soon as he got close, stuck his foot flat unto the wooden trunk. He only managed to climb two steps up before his foot slipped causing the boy to fall with his head hitting painfully against the ground in an earsplitting smack. "OUCH!!"

'You still have a long way to go.' Itachi commented mentally. A faint sound of rustling leaves made him dart his eyes quickly towards that direction catching a glimpse of a presence moving along the bushes.

* * *

Naruto run vertically up the tree but fell down right after with a loud thud. The blonde pulled himself up glancing up the tree while rubbing his sore crown. Itachi only meet him early that morning and left fifteen minutes later. This was one of the rare days where the young jounin would leave him to train on his own. Not that Naruto minds anyway. All that his sensei really does was sit quietly on that fallen log all day and watch him make a fool of himself. He may give a few hints from time to time but mostly he'd just make snide comments to mock his lack of progress.

'Only eight feet in three days...' The boy thought staring at the height he managed to mark. "Dammit!" He cursed in frustration. He formed a hand seal gathering the necessary chakra on his feet to try once more.

Little did he know, someone was waiting from within the woods watching him from afar. The thick cloud hanging on the sky finally moved with the wind allowing more light into the forest and revealing a girl half hidden behind the large trunk of a nearby tree. Feeling totally contented to remain at a distance, admiration etched over her face at a sight of the hyperactive blonde who was working hard on his training.

"What are you doing here?"

The girl yelped aloud in surprise. She felt nervousness quickly overwhelm her.

"Itachi-sensei, did you buy ramen?!" Naruto asked anxiously whilst turning around. He was quite surprised to see the blue haired girl standing next to the Uchiha prodigy. "Hinata? What are you doing here?"

"A...ano..." Hinata squeaked shyly at a loss of words. She lowered her head in an effort to hide her furiously blushing face and began fidgeting with her fingers.

'The heir to the Hyuuga clan.' Itachi noted mentally. Being an important member of one of Konoha's most prestigious clans, the girl was quite well-known within the village. Itachi studied her features for a while before turning his eyes back to his student. "Is she a friend of your?"

"Yes. We were classmates at the Academy." Naruto explained.

Hinata desperately wanted to run away from the place but that seemed to be impossible however as Itachi placed a hand over her shoulder and steered her into the clearing until she was standing right before Naruto. Standing in front of the boy made her feel totally uneasy.

Naruto stared at Hinata through squinted eyes and noticed her glance at him before looking away just as quickly. 'She's weird.'

"Here's lunch." Itachi said raising a plastic bag containing two large bento boxes.

"Ne, sensei, did you buy the ramen I asked you to?" The blonde asked taking the bag and quickly browsing through its contents.

"No."

"What?!" Naruto exclaimed in disbelief. He dug inside the bag and flashed a stick of sweet dumpling disapprovingly at Itachi. "How come you get to eat dango for dessert while I can't have ramen?! That's totally unfair!"

"I won't be having lunch here today. There are a few things that I need to finish so just share these between the two of you." Itachi said.

Hinata actually gasped in disbelief. Spending lunch with Naruto was something she never expected. She glance at the boy and saw him nod obediently at his sensei's instruction.

"I'll come back later this afternoon to check your progress." With that said, Itachi disappeared in a small puff of smoke.

Silence reigned throughout the clearing afterwards. Hinata was feeling all nervous knowing the fact that there she was all alone with the boy she admired standing right next to her. Seeing Naruto glance at her with a dumbfounded look made her want to just vanish into thin air. She was too focused on cursing herself for being too shy to say anything to him that it came as a huge surprise when Naruto extended a bento at her.

"Hey Hinata, will you join me for lunch? I can't eat all these stuff you know." Naruto said grinning toothily at the shy girl.

"A...arigatou, Naruto-kun." Hinata answered meekly reluctantly taking the bento box. The tint on her cheeks growing a deeper shade of red.

Naruto immediately sat on the ground and pried his lunch open. Clapping his hands together, he closed his eyes to say a short prayer before gazing back to the assortment of mouth-watering delicacies waiting for him to devour. After all, if he was to continue training he'd need all the food he could get. "Itadakemasu!"

Hinata couldn't help but smile inwardly at the light-hearted display. She too sat on the ground and began to eat her lunch slowly and in silence, a clear testament to her noble upbringing, and quite contrary to Naruto's loud manner of shoveling food into his mouth, something that other people might find disgusting.

* * *

As Mizuki wandered deeper into the forest the thick blanket of leaves overhead from the large trees growing closely together made the entire place look as dark as dusk. The leaf chuunin walked pass a giant tree and found a mist shinobi standing a few paces away from him. His arms crossed over his chest and from the looks of it, the man had been waiting for him for quite some time now.

"You were supposed to show up yesterday." The mist shinobi said. A device resembling that of a gas mask covering the lower part of his face kept his expression hidden though the tinge of irritation in his voice said it all.

"Don't fuss about it too much. I had to lay low until everything cools off." Mizuki replied.

"Did you bring it?"

"Here." Mizuki removed the large scroll hanging behind his back. "But before I give it you, can you first tell your boys to come out of hiding. It's quite annoying you see."

The mist shinobi let out a derisive chuckle. "Fine. Show yourselves, everyone."

In a blink of an eye seven more shinobis appeared, three over the large branches of the surrounding trees and four on the ground next to the leader. Each one had a Kirigakure hite-ate tied across their foreheads and accompanying gas mask over their faces. Mizuki grinned at the sight. Keeping his part of the deal, he threw the large scroll into the air which landed straight into the mist shinobi's outstretched hand.

The man who appeared to be the leader of the group opened the scroll and read through its first contents. "Kagebunshin? I see..." He rolled the scroll close apparently satisfied. There was no need to read any further, at least for the moment. "This really is Konoha's Scroll of Forbidden Seals. I'm amazed at you."

Mizuki took an involuntary step back as the other shinobis began to inch forward. A fierce tension slowly filled the damp air around them. 'Something's wrong.' Mizuki thought as nervousness and unease slowly crept up his body. "What's the meaning of this?" He asked forcefully, gathering his resolve to shout at the man holding the scroll.

"Heh heh. You were a great spy for the Hidden Mist, Mizuki, however..." The mist shinobi looked up flashing a pair of frightful eyes at the unfortunate traitor. "...you have outlived your usefulness to us."

Mizuki was frozen dead on his feet when he felt a presence suddenly appear right behind him. Certainly, a ninth mist shinobi was hovering over his back with a kunai in hand.

* * *

Back at the training grounds, Naruto was attempting another shot at tree climbing while several paces away Hinata sat on the fallen log watching the boy train. There was an awkward silence that settled between them as Naruto was completely absorbed on his training while Hinata was being terribly shy to string a couple of words together around her crush.

She really wanted to leave since the time Itachi caught her watching Naruto from behind one of the large trees around but was too embarrassed to say anything. 'What should I do? Maybe I should go say my leave but Naruto-kun might take offense in it.' Hinata thought debating with herself. A loud thud echoed across the vicinity snapping the Hyuuga heir off her reverie. Naruto managed to fall off the tree with his head smacking painfully against the ground. She looked worriedly at him but her shyness got it the way preventing her from saying anything. 'A-at least I should say something to him...'

"Ouch..." Naruto moaned rubbing the top of his head. He looked up and a swell of pride burst from his face. The markings on the trunk had finally reached ten feet. The boy was clearly pleased with the fact that he had progressed by as much as two feet since lunch. 'Yosh! I'm finally getting the hang of this. A few more tries and I'll be able to reach the top.' He formed a hand seal, gathering chakra into his feet to try once more but stopped after he heard a voice resembling a squeak from behind.

"N...Naruto-kun..."

"Eh? What's wrong, Hinata?" Naruto asked turning around and walking towards the shy girl.

"I...I was j-just wandering i-if I can also do something like that..." Hinata asked looking down on the ground fidgeting her fingers. The sight of an approaching Naruto sent quivers in her chest together with a darkening blush over her cheeks.

"That?" Naruto asked looking back at the marked tree. It easily came to him that Hinata was referring to the tree climbing exercise. "Of course you can!" He exclaimed turning back to the shy girl.

Hinata looked up and quickly turned her gaze away when she met Naruto's blue eyes staring down at her. "B-but it looks difficult. I... I don't think I can..."

"Of course you can!" Naruto repeated impatiently. He reached down grabbing one of Hinata's arms much to the girl's surprise. Naruto then proceeded to pulling her up on her feet. "You just need to have confidence in yourself! I'm sure you can do it!" He continued encouraging her.

Hinata was surprised at the faith Naruto was putting in her. Never in her life had she met someone who believed in her as she was used to being looked down at home, especially by her father for her lack of ability. With doubt looming over, the white-eyed girl looked sadly down on the ground.

Naruto felt his irritation mount over the girl's lack of self-confidence. "Listen. Just gather chakra on your feet then run up the tree. It's actually not that hard once you start to get the hang of it." Naruto instructed.

Hinata nodded and reluctantly did what she was told to do. Joining her hands forming a hand seal to mold chakra unto her feet, she began to race across the ground and didn't take long before she reached the same tree Naruto was trying to climb. The first step came as a success with her foot sticking firmly against the wood. 'I can do this. Naruto-kun is watching me. I cannot fail.' Her thoughts screamed as she made it step by step up the tree. Suddenly her foot slipped causing her to lose balance and pummeled straight down.

She was anticipating a hard impact with the ground below but instead her back got to land on something quite soft. When she turned around she saw Naruto lying directly underneath her breaking her fall. Blood creeping up to her face, she quickly jumped off the boy. "G-gomenasai..." She muttered weakly. Right now, she didn't think she'd have any courage left to even at look him.

"Hinata..." Naruto muttered while pulling himself up to a sitting position.

'He's probably thinking what a failure I am.' Hinata thought sadly lowering her head in shame. 'I shouldn't have tried climbing up that tree. I just made myself look stupid in front of him.' She suddenly felt a pair of hands grasp her shoulders and when she looked up she saw Naruto staring at her, his face beaming with admiration.

"You're so cool, Hinata! You made up to at least fourteen feet on your first try!"

Surprised, Hinata glanced up the tree. All that she could see were the marks Naruto had scratched off from the bark. There was absolutely no way for her to confirm if the achievement the boy was giving her credit for was true or not. For all she knew, she may not have even reached halfway through the marks.

"Ne, Hinata. Can you give me some tips?"

When she turned her head down once more, the same look didn't seem to leave Naruto's face. It was something Hinata sees as truly genuine, her eyes can tell that much. "S-sure..." She said nodding meekly, a light shade of pink staining her cheeks. Naruto believed in her from deep within his heart so she thought that the least she could do to repay his kindness was for her to believe in herself. 'Arigatou Naruto-kun. From now on, I'll try harder.'

* * *

The mist shinobi was only a few inches short from planting the sharp steel inside Mizuki's head when suddenly his body was forcefully propelled to the left all the way until a loud crash with a large tree trunk stopped his flight completely. The man's comrades watched in shock at the sight of the poor shinobi whose skull was cracked open by the kunai embedded on the side of his head.

"Heh, you should have known better to examine the goods thoroughly first before leaving the merchant." Mizuki sneered. The fear stricken expression on his face was immediately replaced by that of a haughty self-confident grin. He quickly formed a hand seal triggering the Scroll of Forbidden Seals to explode right before the unfortunate shinobi holding it.

"Damn it! You tricked us!" The remaining mist shinobis took out a kunai a piece and threw them straight at Mizuki. Before the knives could hit their mark however a set of shurikens rained down from above hitting the kunais which in turn caused them to land harmlessly on the ground.

A blur then fell from the canopies landing perfectly in front of Mizuki. The mist shinobis' eyes widened after they've recognized the pair of blood red eyes that decorated the teen's handsome face. "Y-you... you're an Uchiha!" One of the shinobis standing on the forest floor said aloud.

Itachi nodded lightly. Suited up with his Anbu gear, the young jounin rushed forward and buried a kunai right into a mist shinobi's throat before he or any of his teammates could react. A twist and a sudden pull later and the head snapped free from the rest of the man's body, falling on the ground and rolling to a stop so that its face was turned towards the remaining shinobis. The final feelings of fear still etched across it. A stream of blood gushed from the severed neck staining Itachi's face.

"I-is he... a demon..." One of them mumbled. A mixture of hatred and fear swept across the remaining foreigners but in the end the desire to avenge their comrades overwhelmed. Three mist shinobis charged towards Itachi, armed with weapons at hand and the burning desire to rip the kid to pieces.

Up on the branches the three other Mist shinobis were about to jump into the fray below when sounds of shurikens striking the wood a few inches from their feet caught their collective attention. Looking towards the direction from which the weapons came, the three saw another leaf shinobi with the same red eyes and black hair as the one below.

"Won't you guys play with me instead? I'll give you a really good service." Shisui said cockily while keeping his arms crossed.

"Who do you take us for, you bastard!" The mist shinobis were about to launch themselves at the man but found their bodies unable to move as soon as they saw Shisui narrowed his sharingan eyes at them.

"What's going on?" One of them asked in confusion when they saw parts of the branch they were standing on grow at an astonishing rate. The wooden appendages worked its way around their bodies securing them in place.

"There's no need to ask a pointless question like that." Shisui offered. He suddenly disappeared from his perch and reappeared beside one of the mist shinobis. He continued on going to the second and then the third covering all three of them in a short span of a second. "You're going to die anyway." He whispered softly on the third shinobi's ear.

Long slits appeared over their necks draining life quickly out of their systems. With their visions blurring at the approaching death, they found themselves to be free from any constrains compelling them to make a last second realization before their bodies gave way for the force of gravity to take over. "...g-genjutsu..."

Back on the ground, Itachi loosened his fist dropping the blood stained kunai and reached for the katana hanging behind his back. Waiting patiently until the mist shinobis got close enough, Itachi pulled the sword off and in one swift swing his blade sliced through their bodies with brutal elegance. Blood rained down smearing the whole area with red tint as a pungent smell began to fill the air.

Shisui jumped down and went to examine the leader of this small group. Though his face, arms, and body were severely burned, he was still breathing which served the Police Force jounin perfectly. "Damn. You better be worth all the trouble I did making that fake scroll not to mention the Administration Building's repair cost." Shisui said hoisting the injured captive over his shoulder.

Mizuki, for his part, also collapsed to the ground as soon as Shisui stared directly at his eyes. After cancellation, the sharingan genjutsu finally took its tool over the body rendering its victim unconscious from both physical and mental fatigue.

"This scheme of yours, I have already paid you back my debts." Itachi said putting his katana back into the sheath on his back. He took out a piece of white handkerchief and wiped his face clean.

"Yeah. But for a favor..." Shisui pointed a free hand at the fallen Mizuki. "Could you help me bring that bastard back to the village? You see, my hands are quite full right now."

Itachi merely glanced down at the unconscious chuunin and without a word, disappeared plainly out of sight. Light rustling of leaves sounded in his wake.

"Hmph. What a friend." Shisui muttered wearing a scowl.

* * *

Naruto and Hinata were walking along the dirt track leading out of the woods that afternoon. Thought exhausted, the boy was in a fairly good mood because of the huge progress he made in today's training thanks to Hinata's tips which came as a big help for him. Hinata was also feeling better. Training with her Naruto-kun even for just a short time showed her that she can accomplish a lot of things if she just had faith in her abilities.

It didn't take long before Naruto spotted three people emerging from another part of the forest and among them was someone familiar. "Hey! Geji-Mayu!" Naruto shouted aloud waving at the direction of the group. The others seemed to have noticed as they stopped walking and turned their way. Naruto rushed towards the group while Hinata continued walking in a slow pace following the blonde.

"It's been a long time, Naruto-kun." Lee greeted happily. The boy had longish, slightly curled hair, round-eyes, and trademark thick eyebrows. He was flanked on both sides by his teammates Hyuuga Neji and Tenten. Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly at the sight of the white-eyed boy. Apparently, he still had a few grudge at the Hyuuga prodigy for the little incident back during the explanatory meetings at the Academy. Neji, on the other hand, nodded lightly and gave an indifferent look at him.

"What are you kids doing, wasting the spring time of your lives?"

A tall jounin suddenly appeared in a puff of smoke shocking the wits out of Naruto. "G-geji-Mayu... W-who the hell is that...?" Naruto asked pointing at the man standing behind the three kids. "Super bobbed hair... super thick eyebrows... This is the first time I've seen such a thing..." Naruto continued, his voice trembling. Simply put, the guy was just too weird for him to handle on any day.

"Hey you! Don't make fun of Gai-sensei!" Lee shouted angrily. Large knots of nerves throbbing over his forehead.

"Like the hell I won't! I don't exactly know how to react to that weird guy!" Naruto yelled back.

"What did you say...?!" Lee said, raising his fist threateningly.

'He is the vessel for the kyuubi...' Gai thought to himself while examining the blonde kid. "Lee, is he a friend of yours?" He asked cutting the bickering between the two youths.

"Hai." Lee nodded and proceeded to introduce the boy. "Gai-sensei, this is Naruto-kun. He aspires to become hokage some day."

"I see..."

"A-ano... Naruto-kun..."

Gai stopped momentarily when he saw a cute blue haired girl approach closer and positioned herself next Naruto. "OHHH!!! What is this passionate thing?! Certainly, romance is the best moment you youthful kids could have during the spring time of your life!" He exclaimed causing every pair of eyes to lock into Naruto and Hinata. The milky color of Hinata's face suddenly turned bright red. She took a step back hiding herself behind Naruto trying to make herself as small as possible while placing her finger over her mouth ease the embarrassment. Unfortunately for her, her actions only made Gai's tears flow out in joy. "Yes... This is youth..."

"SHUT UP you weird super thick eyebrows idiot!!! We're nothing like that! Hinata's just helping me with my training!" Naruto bellowed angrily at the man.

"Don't call Gai-sensei names!" Lee snapped.

Hinata glanced away, something that she always do whenever she's nervous, and unintentionally her eyes fell on Neji. He was staring intently at her with hard cold eyes. Hinata tensed up from his presence making her turn the opposite way.

"Hinata-sama..." Neji muttered catching everyone's attention. "This is why you're a failure. You waste your time hanging around riffraff like that thinking that he can help you can change yourself." Neji cast an eye at Naruto for a moment before turning them back at Hinata. "You are indeed a spoiled kid."

"What did you say, you bastard?" Naruto said through gritted teeth.

"Anyway, that's perfectly natural." Neji continued with a shrug. "Birds of the same feather tend to flock together in order to gain comfort from one another. The same goes for humans. People usually prefer the company of others whom they think are like them, crying over each others' shoulders to drive away their miseries."

"Neji, stop it," called Gai. His words however fell on deaf ears.

"You two are definitely alike. A reject and a dead last."

"Why you little piece of shit!" Naruto charged forward throwing his fist towards the stuck-up brat. Neji simply sidestepped the attack and landed a flurry of punches on Naruto's face, chest and midsection before finishing the combo with a palm strike throwing the blonde several paces back into the ground.

"Hmph. You're even weaker that Lee." Neji mocked. Next to him, Lee said nothing and merely lowered his head. He couldn't say anything back after losing so badly from when he last challenged Neji a few days back.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata exclaimed worriedly. She quickly got herself next to Naruto's side.

"Damn you..." Naruto cursed wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve.

"Get up."

Naruto looked up surprised to see Itachi towering over him. He didn't know how his sensei managed to sneak up behind him and Hinata but he simply cast the thought aside and obedient did what he was ordered to. "What are you doing here, Itachi-sensei?" Naruto asked pulling himself out of Hinata's support.

"So this is your jounin-sensei." Neji said turning his eyes at Itachi. "I've heard so much about you, Uchiha Itachi. For a true genius such as yourself, why do you even bother wasting your time over someone like him?"

Itachi chose not to answer and simply kept his silence. Next to him, Naruto was seething and clenching his fist tight as his temper grew beyond melting point.

"Naruto, you are one lucky fellow. You get to have the number one jounin of Konoha to train you." Neji continued shifting his gaze back at Naruto. "However, that changes nothing. No matter how hard you try or whoever looks after you, a loser will always be a loser. That is the fate you carry and there's nothing you can do to change it."

"Shut up! Labeling people like that and saying that they can't change, I'll kick your ass!" Naruto screamed charging towards Neji the second time around.

"Hmph. You sure are stubborn." Neji closed his eyes and shook his head lightly, apparently amused at the blonde's attitude. "It's useless. You won't even lay a finger on me." He said sounding very confident of himself. However, when he opened his eyes to watch the fast approaching Naruto, a sudden feeling of dread and helplessness rushed over his entire being. In his mind, Neji saw horrific scenes of himself being beaten, wounded, and slaughtered, his blood spewing all over the place. 'What's going on? What is this strong killing intent?' He thought panicking with fear, cold sweat slowly coming out from his skin.

"Take this you bastard!" Naruto exclaimed extending his fist against Neji's face.

With the image of death imprinted over his mind, Neji found his body completely frozen thus leaving himself wide open to receive the blow. Neji toppled on the ground after which he raised his head up and eyed Naruto reproachfully. The pain from that punch seemed to have snapped his senses back on track. The fear vanished as if it never came in the first place.

Gai shifted his sight over to Itachi who was standing directly behind Naruto and noticed his eyes changing color from deep red to black. 'Kanashibari no Jutsu... I see...' He thought, his lips curling up to form a light smile and resolved to keep the realization to himself. "Stop it everyone. It's time to go home."

Lee nodded. "See you around, Naruto-kun. You too, Hinata-san." The boy called out waving at the two before allowing himself to be dragged along by his sensei. Neji got up with a little help from Tenten. He glared at Naruto but chose to keep his quiet and went after the rest of his team.

"That also goes for you two." Itachi followed causing both Naruto and Hinata to stare at him. The jounin then shifted his attention towards his student. "Training will resume early tomorrow morning. Go have some rest." Itachi practically disappeared from sight leaving Naruto and Hinata alone.

"A-ano... Naruto-kun... umm... thank you very much...for standing up for me..." Hinata was looking at the ground again, her face having that eternal blush and was playing with her fingers yet again.

"Heh. It's nothing." Naruto said scratching the back of his head and grinning widely. He wasn't used to people thanking him that it's giving him a hard time handling. "Listen Hinata, if that guy ever badmouths you again just call me okay. I'll give him the ass beating he deserves."

"But..."

"Don't worry about it already. If you call I'll surely come right away because..." Naruto said flashing a toothy grin and a thumbs up. "I don't go back on my word, that is my nindo."

Hinata was left rooted on her place, completely stunned and utterly speechless. A light breeze picked up swaying her hair while she stared, mesmerized, at the boy she admired.

"See later, Hinata!" He said before turning around and running towards the village's commercial center. A few bowls of ramen at Ichiraku was always a good way to cap off a long, eventful day.

* * *

Light from the bright full moon hanging outside flooded the detention cell through the small grilled window. Mizuki was lying on his bed when the creaks from the thick metal doors slowly sliding open caught his attention. Standing outside the entrance was a lone Anbu, fully geared up with his armor plates, katana hanging behind the back and mask to hide the face. "What do you want?" The chuunin asked pulling himself up as the Anbu made his way inside the room.

The Anbu pulled off his mask revealing ash colored hair and a young man's face though it was quite hard to make out his eyes due to his round spectacles reflecting the moonlight. However, that didn't prove to be a problem as Mizuki recognized him just the same. Fear immediately gripped his body. "You... W-what are you doing here?" He asked, his voice shaking.

"The message has been delivered. He is quite pleased with your performance. However..." The young man put his mask back in place and placed a hand over the hilt of his sword. "...you have outlived your usefulness to us." A split second later, pained screams filled the hallow walls of the prison which echoed out through the window and into the vast cloudless sky of the night.


	7. Chapter 7: Rivals

Rants: Hi everyone. I received mixed reactions from last chappie's reviews. Again, thanks for the support. This will the last of the characer appreciation arc and I'll be starting Naruto's mission arc next chapter. Keep reading okay cause I really enjoy the effort making 'em.

* * *

It was a typical morning for the Uchiha family, Sasuke and his father having their morning tea, his mother doing the dishes, and no Itachi around to join them for breakfast. Yes, it had always been like that ever since Itachi quit being Anbu and went to handle a genin team of his own. Itachi would leave well before the sun rises in the morning and return home after the sun has fully set below the horizon. Glancing over to his brother's usual place at the dining table, the side directly in front of his father's, he couldn't help but wonder about a lot of things, most of them involving his brother. "Otousan? What's 'niisan's genin team like?"

Sasuke's father took a sip from his tea before placing the cup down the table to answer. "I don't know. I never saw them once."

"But I'm sure you have at least some idea about them." Sasuke pressed.

The Uchiha head sighed. "I don't know their names or any details about them since it didn't come to me before to look into their files." Those were flat-out lies. The high ranking official had actually dug into the Ninja Registration files the following day after Itachi spoke of his intention to leave the Anbu. The fact that the registration list was an open book for all didn't make his investigation hard, in fact he got all the information he wanted about his elder son's student but for some reason he chose not to talk about it. "All that I am certain is that these kids are special."

"Special?"

"That's what I think." The man said shifting his gaze towards his younger son. "Your brother is a bit different. He doesn't like interacting with people. The fact that Itachi left his position as Anbu captain just to teach these kids must mean that they interest him in some way."

"I see..." Sasuke muttered pulling his head down. 'They must be really talented ninjas to deserve 'niisan's attention.' He took the cup of steaming tea and down some in.

"Now, now, hurry up and finish your breakfast." Sasuke's mother said, placing food on the table before his husband and son. "There isn't much time for you two to train in the morning. Father's got an important meeting today and you have some things to attend to at the Academy, right?"

"Yes. Today's the Registration Day for this school year." Sasuke responded with a nod.

"Okay. After training father will walk you to the Academy. Right dear?" Sasuke's mother continued, the last words were directed to her husband.

"Um." Sasuke's father grunted taking his chopsticks and placing some food into his mouth. His wife let out a hearty smile before turning her back against the rest of her family and returning to her kitchen work.

'That's right. I have Otousan's attention now.' Sasuke thought, obediently eating his breakfast like his mother told him. 'Even without 'niisan it's okay.'

* * *

"Oh my, oh my... Ramen at Ichiraku is sooo good! If only training consists of this I can do it forever!" Naruto exclaimed, happily tapping his bulging belly as he marched his way across the neighborhood. A wide grin of satisfaction spread across his face after the delightful breakfast. Downing more than fifteen bowls of ramen, at someone else's expense of course, was enough to keep the blonde pumped up for the rest of the day.

Naruto looked back, glancing over his sensei who was trailing in silence a couple of steps behind. 'Itachi-sensei's so quiet, I bet he's pissed that I almost emptied his wallet. But then again, he's always like that.' Naruto simply shrugged the thought away turning his eyes back on the road ahead. It was then that both teacher and student stopped on their tracks after feeling a presence begin to stalk them from behind.

Glancing around once again, Naruto noticed a perfectly shaped rectangular block with two holes at the front side now standing on ground two paces directly behind him. 'Is that supposed to be a rock...?' He asked mentally, eyes twitching.

Naruto looked ahead acting as though he didn't notice anything and started to walk casually for a few steps forward before going to a halt. The 'rock' mimicked his movement. Next, Naruto run back and forth at a moderate pace with the 'rock' following him. He began to speed up running around in circles but the 'rock' continued its relentless pursuit. Finally, Naruto came to a sudden stop turning around with his hands on his hips and catching sight as the so-called rock abruptly applied its brakes to render itself motionless before the blonde. "A square rock like that doesn't exist!" Naruto exclaimed pointing sharply at the object. "It's so obvious!"

"Ehehehe! That's something I expect from the man who is my rival!" A voice from inside the 'rock' sounded before exploding in a giant cloud of multi-colored smoke. The smoke cleared revealing three small kids on all fours unto the ground, coughing. "Hey, you used too much gunpowder," coughed the spiky haired brat at the center. Seeing the dumbfounded look on Naruto's face, the group quickly pulled themselves on their feet to begin their introduction.

"The one who possesses the sex appeal of an adult and the konoichi of the group, Moegi!" The cute orange-haired girl said aloud making several poses as she spoke.

"The one who loves dividing numbers, Udon." A snot-nosed boy followed.

"The village's number one genius ninja, Konohamaru!" Hokage's honored grandson said flexing his puny muscles.

"The three of us make the Konohamaru Corps!" The three of them finished by forming a group pose.

"Just as I thought, it was the three of you." Naruto said placing his hands over the back of his head apparently uninterested. It was then that he noticed the gear hanging across the trio's foreheads. "Hmm? Why do you have goggles on?"

"Hehehe... We copied old you." Konohamaru stated proudly, each of the kids tapping their goggles with broad smiles on their faces.

"Oh?"

"'Oh?' 'niisan, you've been treating us cold lately." Konohamaru said sounding a bit hurt. The smiles on Moegi and Udon dropped into frowns.

"And? What do you want?"

"See? He's so cold." Konohamaru whispered aloud into Udon's ear while shoving Moegi in front to face the older boy.

"Um... Well, Leader, do you have time today?" Moegi asked.

"No." Naruto replied shaking his head. "I'm going to go train!"

"What?! You said you were going to play ninja with us!" Konohamaru protested. The two others seconded by nodding in the background.

"R-really? Did I promise that?" Naruto laughed sheepishly while scratching the back of his head. 'Really. If I play with these guys, I'll be stuck with them the whole day.'

"Would you kids like to go help Naruto-kun train?" Itachi asked making everyone turn their heads towards the person that they happen to overlook for quite some time now. Moegi's eyes instantly turned into hearts and began emitting love bubbles the moment she had laid sight of the handsome young man.

"Naruto-niisan, who's that creepy-looking guy?" Konohamaru whispered elbowing Naruto at the side to catch his attention. He kept a wary look over the black clad teen.

"Oh, that's Itachi-sensei. He's my jounin sensei." Naruto said introducing Itachi to the kids.

"I see..."

"So, will you come with us?" Itachi asked again.

"Sure! Anything for Naruto-niisan!" Konohamaru nodded flashing a thumbs up coupled with his toothy wide grin. Udon simply nodded while a love struck Moegi giggled uncontrollably from behind. Committing too soon, they failed to see the small ominous smile that appeared over Itachi's lips until it was all too late. A few minutes later and the kids found themselves tied up on a pole sticking out at the middle of Nakano River.

"Naruto-niisan!! Help us!!" Konohamaru wailed as loud as he could, hoping that his voice reached up to the pier by the riverbank where the blonde boy stood.

"Leader!!" Moegi and Udon cried aloud.

"Itachi-sensei! What do you think you're doing?! Why'd you have to do that to Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon?!" Naruto yelled angrily at the man standing, as odd as it may seem, on top of the surface of the water at the distance between Naruto on the pier and the kids out into the river.

"They volunteered to help you on your training, didn't they? That's exactly why." Itachi said matter-of-factly, his arms crossed over his chest.

"But..."

"Listen Naruto-kun, for this exercise you have to walk across the river, untie your friends, then bring them safely back here."

"Walk across the river?" Naruto repeated. Itachi already demonstrated the task earlier when he dragged the kids and tied them up at the center of the river.

Itachi nodded in confirmation. "Constantly release the appropriate amount of chakra from your feet into the water then balance that amount according to the weight of your body in order to make yourself float. This exercise is designed to teach you how to control chakra by releasing a constant amount of it. Now that you've completed the tree climbing exercise, this shouldn't prove to be a problem."

'I'll do this no matter what!' A very determined Naruto formed a hand seal and began gathering chakra on his feet. "Hang in there, Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon!!" Naruto then took a deep breath before courageously taking his first step into the water. The first few steps proved to be a success as Naruto got himself to float over the water. However, it was still premature to celebrate after he found the balancing act to be very though indeed. 'Balance... I have to keep myself balanced...' Naruto thought hard fighting over control as he felt his footing slowly slip.

"HURRY!! Naruto-niisan!!" Konohamaru cried even louder this time, moving his legs helplessly in the air.

"SHUT UP!! I can't concentrate... whoa!" Naruto cursed inwardly as that short moment of distraction threatened to make him plunge into river. Thankfully enough, he managed to regain control just in time. Heaving a sigh of relief, Naruto continued inching his way slowly across the water. 'Yosh. I'm starting to get a grip on this.'

"By the way, you better speed it up if you want to save your friends." Itachi said all of a sudden catching everybody's attention. Even the Konohamaru Corps stopped crying to listen to what the young man has to say.

"Why is that?" A confused Naruto asked.

"The dam is scheduled to open its floodgates around this time to release the excess water into the river. In my estimate, it would probably take less than four minutes before the water reaches this place. If you don't rescue them soon, they will drown." Itachi continued. His voice and the look on his voice were indifferently cold, totally unconcerned of the children's fate.

"EHH?!!" Naruto and the kids exclaimed collectively. Immediately after Itachi's warning, the calm waters of the river started to get rough, slowly rising in height.

"NARUTO-NIISAN! HURRY!!" The brats turned white with fear and began to wail louder and louder driving a panicking Naruto crazy. A few moments later, a loud rumbling sound was heard from the horizon and sure enough, a large wave of rushing white water was seen traveling at incredible speeds sweeping everything in its path. "WAAAHHHH!!!"

It didn't take long before the waters finally subsided. Resting near the edge of the pier, Naruto, Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon were catching their breaths, taking in a huge amount of air into their lungs with each gasp. "You guys okay?" Naruto asked in between breaths. Receiving nods from the three, Naruto finally sighed in relief. "That's good." He took the time to relax by slumping his back against the boardwalk.

"Good work, Naruto-kun. You got them out just in time." Itachi towering behind the kids commended Naruto for his performance.

"Good work my ass! You almost got Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon killed! Is that something a sensei should be doing?!" Naruto yelled angrily quickly getting on his feet and pointing accusingly straight at Itachi.

"Yeah!" Konohamaru seconded, Moegi and Udon backing him up with nods although they were hiding themselves behind the hokage's grandson. Seeing Itachi cast his eyes upon them made the three cringe in fear. They could already foresee the maniac pitting them through another insane stunt and they didn't want any part of it.

Studying them for a while, Itachi then shifted his gaze back to his blonde student. "The preparations are complete. You're going to learn jutsus now."

"Really?! Is it a cool jutsu?!" Naruto asked, his face already beaming with enthusiasm. It's still a mystery how the loudmouthed kid could change emotions within seconds.

"Watch closely." Itachi walked pass the kids towards the end of the pier where he performed a set of hand seals. "Katon: Karyuu Endan no Jutsu." He announced, taking a deep breath and released a powerful tongue of bright white hot flames from his mouth. The flames traveled at astounding speeds all the way towards the other bank of the river. As Itachi continued breathing fire, Naruto and the others felt the temperature of the area around them soar to uncomfortable heights.

"Wow! So cool!" Naruto couldn't help but voice out his amazement. Even Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon could only nod their astonishment at the feat the scary man displayed.

Itachi ended the demonstration and immediately proceeded to explaining the basics for the jutsu. "The hand seals are serpent, ram, horse, serpent, dragon, rat, ox, tiger. Draw a large amount of chakra from your mouth into your chest. Hold it there for a while then blow it out in a continuous flow. Use the skill you learned in the water walking exercise to control the release of chakra. Remember, the flow of chakra out of your mouth must be exact otherwise the jutsu will certainly fail. Now you do it." He instructed.

"Okay! Here I go!" Naruto exclaimed joining his hands to mold chakra by forming the initial hand seal.

"Naruto-niisan! Fight!" Konohamaru cheered.

"Do your best, Leader!" said Moegi while Udon nodded vehemently beside her in support of the blonde eleven year old boy.

Naruto performed the rest of the series of hand seals for the jutsu after which he took a deep breath pushing the molded chakra into his lungs. "Katon: Karyuu Endan no Jutsu!" Naruto yelled converting chakra into fire and blowing it out of his system. Unfortunately for him, the result was not something everyone had expected. Naruto only managed to puff out a tiny ball of fire which hissed out of existence just as quickly.

"Naruto-niisan... you suck..." Konohamaru said bluntly through narrowed eyes.

"Shut up! I'll try it again, watch!" Naruto snapped back at the brat before going through the steps for the second time around. Once again Naruto spew out the same small packet of fire making the boy scream out in frustration.

Itachi could only shake his head after watching Naruto's blunders. Inside his mind, however, was a different story. 'Grasping the concept of this level of chakra control so quickly... The threat on his friends' lives and his compulsion to save them has fuelled him to progress this much without him realizing it.' Itachi continued to watch as Naruto attempts on the jutsu for the umpteenth time while Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon pestered him with a barrage of unwarranted tips and suggestions. 'Naruto-kun, this will be a milestone for you once you've mastered this high-level ninjutsu. Even so, you'd still have a long way to go... but definitely a step closer...' Itachi's musings were interrupted when he heard an all familiar voice calling out for him.

"'niisan!"

Itachi turned around and saw the owner of the voice, his little brother Sasuke, standing on top of the elevated riverside. Standing next to him was there father, the all important head of the Uchiha clan and captain of Konoha's Police Force.

'The kyuubi kid...' The middle-aged man narrowed his eye, lips frowning after catching sight of the blonde boy. "Itachi, what are you doing? We're going to be late." The head of the Uchiha stated shifting his attention back to his eldest son.

Itachi nodded. "Naruto-kun..." He called waving his hand gesturing the orange clad boy to come closer. The blonde readily obliged. Once Naruto was within arms length Itachi raised a hand and poked him on the forehead. Naruto immediately rubbed the part that his sensei touched, thanking god for his hite-ate that it didn't hurt at all.

Unknown to them, to Naruto and the three kid's part the least, Sasuke was burning in a mix of emotions after witnessing the exchange. The young Uchiha was clenching fist so hard that his fingernails were biting against his flesh. His father took notice of this and, most probably, so does Itachi.

"I'm going to leave for a while. We have an important meeting to attend to."

"What kind of meeting is it, Itachi-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"It's a meeting called by hokage-sama and the elder council to discuss some very important agenda concerning the village. Only shinobis from jounin level are required to attend." Itachi explained.

"I see..." Naruto muttered nodding his head in fake understanding. 'Agenda? What's that? I don't understand any of this stuff.'

"It will take about a couple of hours the least but I want you to continue practicing the katon jutsu while I'm away. I will be checking up on your progress later." Itachi instructed first before turning his back at Naruto and leaving to join with his father and brother.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes to cast a hateful glare at Naruto for a while before walking away with the rest of his family.

"Hey 'niisan. Why don't we go play Ninja while that scary sensei of yours is gone?" Konohamaru suggested as soon as the Uchihas were out of sight.

"Stop pestering me. I have to continue my training." Naruto said positioning himself back to the edge of the boardwalk. He then began to gather chakra for a fresh new attempt at the Karyuu Endan jutsu.

"Hmph! How rude!" Konohamaru huffed, turning his head away in a fit of anger. "Then we won't be leaving here either! It is kinda fun watching you screw up." The brat followed flashing a mischievous grin, his two sidekicks nodding in the background.

"Why you little...!"

* * *

The head of the Uchiha clan together with his two sons walked in silence through the village. Most the people they happened to pass bowed their heads in respect at the noble family while the others said their greetings. Occasionally, the Uchiha head would reply to them but most of the time he just stayed quiet.

Trailing a few steps behind their father, Sasuke glanced up to his brother who was walking right next to him. "'niisan..."

"..."

Catching Itachi's silence, Sasuke continued. "He's your student, right? Naruto, that is."

"Yes."

"I thought you were going to teach a genin team. That's why you quit from Anbu, right?" Sasuke asked again.

"Yes, that's right."

"Then how come you're hanging around with that guy? I know him. He's from my class and he's not a genin yet. He may not even become genin this year." Sasuke explained. Their father kept his silence and simply acted like it didn't interest him but surely was keeping a close ear at the conversation.

"Naruto-kun is a genin." Itachi stated firmly.

"I don't believe it! That guy's an idiot! He's the dead last in our class! There's no way he'd be allowed to graduate a year ahead of me!" Sasuke raged, his voice growing louder and louder after each word that left through his mouth.

"You saw the hite-ate tied around his forehead didn't you? Naruto-kun passed both the Academy graduation exam and the genin admission test." Itachi explained keeping his cold demeanor in place when he turned to face Sasuke. "Also, he is the only genin in my team." He added.

Sasuke stopped dead on his tracks. He had his head lowered while his fists clenched in a mix of rage, disbelief and outright jealousy. "I don't believe it. I don't believe it." '...that dobe.'

Both Sasuke's father and brother came to a halt after they felt the youngest Uchiha stopped following them. Both turned around to watch the boy. Their father had a worried look on his face which he tried to mask with indifference while Itachi's was just plain cold. "Sasuke, let's go." His father said.

"How come you hang around and teach that bastard everyday while you won't even help me! With my shuriken training... with my jutsus... you never bother to help me with anything! Tell me 'niisan, why?!" Sasuke shouted out loud letting out all the emotions bottled in chest loose. All the people around started to look at him, some were surprised, shocked, others scandalized, but Sasuke didn't give a damn about any of them. His eyes were totally focused on Itachi. "What's so special about that dobe that I don't have?!"

"He's a genin and you're just a regular Academy student. That's all there is to it." With that said Itachi turned his back at Sasuke and continued walking ahead.

"Itachi!" Their father called but Itachi acted like he didn't hear anything. The Uchiha head merely sighed in defeat and glanced back at his youngest son.

Gritting his teeth, Sasuke's eyes burned with resolve. "'tousan, you go ahead. I'll walk to the Academy on my own." Sasuke said in a low tone after which he turned around and traveled the fork on the road leading directly towards the Ninja Academy. He didn't even bother to hear what his father had to say at that time. His mind was totally focused on one thing, 'I have to know... I need to find that person.'

In a few minutes Sasuke reached the gates of Konoha's Ninja Academy, the place where young aspiring shinobis are trained and thought about the Hidden Leaf's way of the ninja. Ever since he entered the school back when he was seven, the people in this place had always looked up to him. Most of the girls in school admired him. Boys choose him to be their rival and always competed with him. The teachers had high hopes and expected him to be top caliber ninja one day. It maybe because of the Uchiha name but Sasuke had always lived up to everyone's expectations by consistently being the number one student of his class. Right now, those things didn't interest him.

"Sasuke-kun! Can I walk with you?" A pink-haired girl suddenly asked positioning herself next to the Uchiha kid. Taking the boy's silence for a yes, she looked behind and stuck her tongue out at the pack of seething fan girls and continued walking side by side with him all the way into the school building. "Have you come here to pass your registration form? I'm sure this will be a great year ahead."

Sasuke simply ignored all of her ranting and continued to walk in a quickened pace.

'Sasuke-kun's so fierce and silent today. He looks preoccupied with something. I know! Maybe he's just being shy around me.' The thought made the girl blushed profusely, the color of her cheek glowing brighter than that of her hair. "Ne Sasuke-kun, y-you wanna have lunch together?"

"Sakura, where's Iruka-san?" Sasuke finally spoke.

"Iruka-sensei? I think he's at the faculty room fixing up documents or something." Sakura thought aloud. The next thing she saw, Sasuke broke to a dash across the corridor ditching her behind. "Sasuke-kun, wait!"

* * *

With preparations for the fast approaching opening day for the next school year, all the Academy teachers have been saddled with so much workload for more than a week now that many of them are trying to use whatever excuse that they can find to escape the torture even for just a few moments. Today's excuse – lunch. The faculty room was completely deserted except for one martyr teacher who was busily sorting out the stacks of registration forms in his desk during his precious noon break.

"Iruka-san."

Iruka had been so engrossed in his work that he failed to notice Sasuke enter the faculty room.

"Oh, it's just you Sasuke-kun." Iruka said glancing briefly at Sasuke before returning his attention back on the mountain of paper. "The teachers are having their lunch break right now. You can leave your registration form here and we'll just call you for your pre-testing once the teachers arrive."

"How come Naruto's already a genin?!" Sasuke said forcefully causing the teacher to turn his eyes back at him.

Iruka raised an eyebrow at the kid. "Why does that interest you?" He asked knowing fully the answer to the question.

"It doesn't matter! Tell me! How come that dobe's already a genin!"

"He passed both the Academy graduation exam and the genin admission exam his sensei gave him. Naturally, he'd be recognized as a genin." Iruka simply shrugged explaining it as though it was common fact.

"Don't play with me, Iruka-san!" Sasuke yelled in outburst. "I still remember clearly what you said a week before the end of last term!"

The said memory flashed inside both Sasuke and Iruka's mind. That day Iruka dumped a tied-up Naruto back in class. "The Academy graduation exam is due next week and let me remind you that you already failed the last time! This is no time to be causing trouble, you moron!" he yelled.

"Yeah, yeah," huffed Naruto.

Iruka seethed and decided to turn his anger to the class. "Time for a review test on Henge no Jutsu! Everyone line up!"

"The Academy graduation exam is due next week... You already failed the last time... That's what you said." Sasuke watched Iruka intently. The chuunin had kept his silence crossing his arms listening to everything the boy said. "Naruto officially belongs to our class! He has been our classmate since we all first entered the Academy! He should be taking the graduation exam only after this coming school year so how come he was allowed to take the graduation test two years earlier than the rest of us?!"

"I don't remember you or any of your classmates protesting to it back then."

"Just answer the question!"

Iruka sighed. "I placed Naruto's name on the list of those who were to take the graduation exam both this and the previous year."

"That's totally unfair!" Sasuke slammed his fist against a nearby desk in his anger. "Naruto's grades are the worst in class! All he does is slack off and cause trouble! He was a dead last, no talent bum and yet he got the chance to graduate ahead of everyone else who was doing way better than him!"

"That's exactly what my colleagues told me. That I was being bias and unfair." Iruka said.

"Then why?"

"Naruto never knew his parents and has lived alone for most part of his life. He doesn't have anyone to acknowledge him that's why he plays all those pranks to catch the attention of the people around him. The pain of being alone..." Iruka paused for a while, turning his head down on the floor. "I know exactly how he feels because I was an orphan myself."

"You..."

Iruka nodded lightly. "Naruto and I are very much alike. I see my younger self in him. I really wanted him to become a genin because that was the time when I finally found people who will acknowledge me. My sensei and teammates were the first people aside from my parents to truly acknowledge me for who I am. By making Naruto graduate, I believed that he too will find people who will acknowledge him for who he is. That's the reason why."

"Unfortunately for you, your plan failed. Naruto doesn't have any other person in his team other than my brother."

"I asked the hokage the same question too and he didn't give me the answer back then. It was just now that I finally realized what the hokage had been planning and all along. Something that I happened to completely overlook." Iruka said.

"That is?"

"Maturity." Iruka stated with full conviction. "I believe Sandaime wanted Naruto to mature and have a grown man's view about the workings of the world. For someone who had lived through so much, Sandaime believed that by putting him alone in a genin team would make him mature faster and in the end that maturity would help ease his suffering and give him a bright prospective about the future. I admit that I don't have the same opinion as the hokage does with regards to this setup but I perfectly trust his judgments."

"Pfft! I can't take anymore of this crap." Sasuke sounded rudely, turning his back at Iruka and marching his way towards the door.

"Sasuke."

Sasuke had placed his hand over the knob and was about to turn the door ajar when he heard Iruka spoke.

"This isn't about Naruto, is it? It's about your brother."

Scowling, Sasuke choose not to answer. He pulled the door open with all his might and slammed it forcefully in his wake. The young Uchiha wandered along the corridors already having a particular destination in mind. He hadn't covered much distance away from the faculty room when he suddenly felt someone latching herself over his back.

"Sasuke-kun! I've been eagerly waiting to see you again after the long summer vacation. Having a nice day so far?" The blonde girl, Yamanaka Ino, cooed wrapping her arms around the boy's neck.

Sasuke pulled Ino's arms off him and pushed the girl forcefully aside in his anger that she fell down with her behind crashing painfully against the floor. The girl gave out a pained yelp that Sasuke ignored. 'I don't have time to deal with annoying girls.' He thought continuing to be on the move without giving the offended girl so much as a backward glance.

Sasuke was already on his way out of the school yard when he met another classmate of his, a spiky hair boy with a white puppy plastered on top of his head. "So, it's the big show-off Uchiha Sasuke. You better watch out because I'm not going to let you bet me anytime this year." Inuzuka Kiba said confidently wearing a scowl to show his displeasure at the boy. His little dog barked to second his master.

Sasuke simply brushed pass Kiba without uttering a single word. The Inuzuka kid shouted swear at him to get his attention, something that he readily ignored. He soon found himself out of the school premises and into the center of town.

"Oh, Sasuke-chan. How's everything at the Academy." A stout old woman called when he strode passed her store.

"Good afternoon, Uchiha-sama." A man greeted, bowing his head low in respect for the passing boy.

"Mama, who's that? He's kinda cute?"

"That's Sasuke-kun, a successor to that genius Uchiha clan."

"He must really be strong, right mama?"

He heard a mother and her young daughter talking about him and his family. Like the rest, Sasuke ignored all of these along with all the other greetings and compliments that came his way from random people he'd met down the street. 'These people, I don't need them.' Sasuke thought angrily. ''tousan... 'niisan... Hokage-sama... Even Iruka-san... The people that matters... Why is it that I can never gain their acknowledgement?' Sasuke's musings kept his mind occupied for the rest of the way.

It didn't take long until Sasuke found himself back on the same spot where he found his brother that morning. Looking over, he easily found his reason for coming all the way here. The blonde boy, surrounded by three bratty kids, was training on the boardwalk jutting out into the Nakano River. Rage fully consuming him, Sasuke ran all the way down the stone steps and into the wooden pier. "Naruto!"

"Eh?" Naruto sounded, turning around after hearing someone call his name. Instead, what he saw was a fully clenched fist ramming itself against his face. The force from that punch threw him all the way into river. It didn't take long though before Naruto recovered from the surprise attack, yanking himself upright over the surface of the water. "What do you think you're doing, Sasuke?!" Naruto yelled aloud rubbing his swollen cheek.

"Fight me, Naruto!" Sasuke screamed over the pier, his facing contorting with fury.

"What?" Naruto asked totally bewildered of Sasuke's change of attitude. From what he remembered it was him who used to pick up fights against the Uchiha kid during their stay at the Academy and definitely not the other way around.

"Hey you! Why did you do that to Naruto-niisan?!" Konohamaru bravely snapped shaking his tiny fist angrily to defend his idol.

With the small boy catching his attention, Sasuke decided to vent some of his anger into the little punks by throwing a punch on each of them and in effect knocking the trio out of the platform and into the water. Taking in one deep breath, Sasuke set his eyes back on the boy standing at the middle of the river.

"You bastard!" Naruto cursed, angered by the attack on his friends. He immediately performed the set of hand seals Itachi taught him. "Katon: Karyuu Endan no Jutsu!!" Naruto blew out all of his breath but instead of a powerful stream of flames coming out of his mouth, all that he got was the small puff of fire he'd been expelling from practice the whole day.

"Naruto-niisan... you really suck..." A floating Konohamaru said bluntly through narrowed eyes.

"Hmph!" Sasuke sounded, jerking his head up, his eyes looking down at Naruto. "Is this the special kid who gets to have my brother's full attention?" He began to perform a string of hand seals before taking in a deep breath. "I'll show you what a real Katon jutsu is like. Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" The Uchiha exclaimed releasing a giant ball of fire straight at Naruto.

"Naruto-niisan!" Konohamaru called out. The sight of the huge flames blazing across the water that threatened to roast Naruto alive worried him so much.

"Leader!" Moegi shouted.

"Worthless dead last, that's the end for you." Sasuke muttered in a triumphant gloat. There was no way that Naruto could have survived such an attack. He had clearly proven to himself and to everyone else that he was way stronger compared to the reject his brother blindly took in to be his apprentice.

Suddenly, a pair of Narutos jumped out of the water, catching Sasuke off guard, and locked themselves on each side of the Uchiha securing him in place. The two clones grinned after seeing the confusion on the boy's face. A second later, the real Naruto jumped out of the water directly in front of the raven-haired boy, not giving Sasuke any time to react, and landed a sharp kick under his jaw. The surprise attack propelled Sasuke into the air and ultimately crashed down against the wooden platform several paces back. "Hmph! Don't think that you can take me out with your cheap tricks, idiot!" The three Narutos mocked him back, flashing a thumbs down in synchronized movements for added effect.

"Naruto-niisan! You're so cool!" Konohamaru exclaimed amazed at the blonde's moves. A Naruto clone appeared beside each of the three kids yanking them out of the water.

Sasuke felt himself shaking both in anger and frustration at the boy's gestures. 'He's totally disrespecting me. That bastard, I'll kill him!' He pushed himself back up, wiped the blood off the corner of his mouth and charged towards Naruto anew, screaming out a battle cry as he went.

Naruto and his clones also lowered themselves into a battle ready stance in anticipation of Sasuke's attack when a kunai suddenly fell down from the sky embedding itself with a loud thud unto the wooden platform causing the pumped up eleven year olds to stop on their tracks.

"Stop it, Sasuke." A voice suddenly sounded from behind the young Uchiha.

Surprised, Sasuke quickly turned heel and saw his older brother standing before him. "'niisan?"

"We're going home now. Chichiue wants you back for your training." Itachi said to his brother. Next, he turned his eyes at his student but didn't say anything to him.

Sasuke glared at his brother. Though feeling extremely furious, Sasuke chose to stand down and, under Itachi's instruction, silently walked pass his brother with the intention of heading back towards the Uchiha household. Itachi didn't say a word and went to follow his younger brother home.

"Geez. What's with those guys? They're just plain scary." Konohamaru commented aloud, shaking his head dry just like a dog after Naruto's clones brought him, Moegi and Udon Back to the platform. The brat did have the mind to say such things when the aforementioned brothers were out of earshot or who knows what sort of things might happen to them.

"Yeah." Moegi and Udon nodded their assent.

"You kids better go home. I'm staying here to continue my training." Naruto said shooing the kids away so he could have the rest of his day in peace. He dispersed his shadow clones into a cloud of smoke after their jobs were all done.

"Hey Naruto-niisan, you're not getting off that easily! Considering all the troublesome things we did for you this morning, you have to compensate by playing ninja with us!" Konohamaru demanded.

"What?! What about my training?"

"And as an added bonus, you'll have to treat for lunch or else we'll tell the entire village how you sucked big time!" Konohamaru added sounding all high and mighty, arms crossed. His eyes were also both closed that he did not notice the rest of the Konohamaru Corps hide themselves shaking behind his back. Only after he opened his eyes did he saw the older boy cracking his knuckles, eyes burning and gigantic knots of nerves throbbing on his forehead that the Hokage's grandson felt what true fear is like.

"Ko–no–ha–ma–ru– I'll strangle you myself!" An angry Naruto screamed.

* * *

The sparring match continued for the remainder of the afternoon inside the large dojo within the Uchiha residence. After a few moments trading attacks with one another, a badly beaten Sasuke fell haplessly on the floor. The elder Uchiha wasn't showing any signs of going easy on the match just because his own son was his opponent. Even so, Sasuke pulled himself back on his feet with a single though firing his determination, 'I won't let that dobe beat me! I have to become stronger!'

On the sides, Itachi sat watching his brother's training session in silence. Keeping that cold, indifferent expression made it hard for anyone to draw out if whether or not he was actually interested in this little match.

"Wow, this is a first. The head of the Uchiha clan and the person in line for succession actually missed the all important village meeting called by Sandaime Hokage-sama himself." A familiar police jounin marched inside the practice hall and taunted in a soft voice so that only Itachi could hear.

"Why are you here, Shisui?" Itachi asked.

"I just came to deliver these documents about Mizuki's murder case to the captain. I won't mind waiting a little though." The police jounin plopped himself down next to his friend to comfortably watch the sparring session. "You wanna hear the details about it?"

"No."

"Okay." All too used to the former Anbu captain's ways, Shisui simply shoved the cold shoulder treatment aside and focused his attention on Itachi's younger brother. "I see your father's investing a lot of time into Sasuke, something that he doesn't usually do before. I'm sure the captain wants him to become the all important representative of Uchiha. That is if you don't change your mind."

"That's unlikely to happen. Also, Sasuke is the one most fitting for the position. He will serve Uchiha well." Itachi said not bothering to take his eyes away from his father and brother.

"So, you're okay with the idea that Sasuke is just a replacement for you?"

"..."

Shisui heaved a small sigh at the answer his friend gave him. "I heard that Naruto and your brother had a little fight early this afternoon."

"Yeah."

"I know it's pointless to say but just now Sasuke has chosen Naruto as his rival. Whether he likes it or not, Naruto's one of your brother's targets now." Shisui said as he watched Sasuke push his tired, shaking body back on its feet. "You've seen this coming from the longest time and yet you still went through all the trouble setting up that Hyuuga genius against Naruto."

"..."

Shisui shook his head. For someone who has stayed long enough with Itachi, the young man's silence actually revealed more about the things swimming across his mind than the words coming out of his mouth. Shisui focused his eyes back at Sasuke. "You know, you have a very odd way of showing your love for your brother."

"..."


	8. Chapter 8: Missions

Rants: Damn I've been really late. Chapters 8 and 9 were orignally intented to be one chapter but I found a bit too long so I decided to break theminto two seperate chappies. This might feel like an extension of the last arc and probably be a drag for some so flame on. Oh, and about the parts I reread from the series, the reason I do so is because I want to preserve as much of the original series as possible. Of course there are arguably better ways of doing so but I found the first one to my liking. My apologies everyone (bows head)

* * *

Naruto walked into the team's designated meeting place early that morning. The area wasn't anything spectacular on its own, just an ordinary small clearing in the middle of the woods with only one thing standing out of place against the background – the vendo machine erected on the side near the bushes. Looking around, Naruto easily spotted the sixteen year old jounin who was sitting patiently by the fallen log. He already knew what the guy was going say.

"You're late."

"I'm not late! I'm early!" Naruto yelled in response, finishing off their daily early morning routine. "Ne Itachi-sensei, let's hurry back to the river! I think I finally got the grip on the Katon jutsu! I'll definitely do it this time!" The boy exclaimed, bouncing up and down on the ball of his feet.

"We won't be training for today. Hokage-sama has given us a mission." Itachi said. He took out a small scroll and handed it over to Naruto. "The details are written in there."

"Mission…?" Naruto muttered as he pulled the scroll open. Immediately upon catching sight of its contents, the boy's face dropped to a frown.

D-Ranked Mission No. 4: Weed Pulling.

"Hmph! This is a crappy job for a top class ninja like me." Naruto said as he watched the weed infested garden through squinted eyes. The mission: clearing the weeds off the garden around a cottage on the fields outside the village. Looking behind, Naruto saw his sensei leaning idly against the trunk of a large tree, the shade from which protecting him from the heat of the high sun. 'What a cheap bastard, making me do all the hard work.' The boy thought, narrowing his eyes at Itachi.

"What are doing sitting there? We don't have all day." Itachi said.

"Hmph!" Naruto pouted shifting his eyes back on the weeds. "I'll finish this quickly then I can go back to my jutsu training!" The boy pulled his sleeves back, his face beaming with new found determination, and began pulling the plants off like a charged-up, high-powered weed pulling machine. It didn't take long before a tall mountain of grasses and other weeds piled up behind the orange clad boy. Naruto was grinning widely at the sight of his day's accomplishment. 'Operation Weed Pulling: Success.' Naruto thought proudly, nodding his head in approval.

"Hey you…"

"Eh?" Naruto looked over to the large woman standing a few steps away from him. "Oh obaachan, I'm done pulling out all the weeds." Naruto became totally confused when instead of a look of appreciation what he saw was the old woman's face suddenly turning furious, her body began shaking in anger. "What's wrong?" Naruto asked.

"Those aren't weeds… Those were the herbs I've been growing on my garden!" The lady yelled.

"OUCH!!!" Naruto screamed aloud while the large woman clobbered him silly for ruining her precious garden.

* * *

D-Ranked Mission No. 6: Cleaning the Stream.

Using a pair of long metal tongs, Naruto tossed the aluminum can he picked from the streambed up into the air which perfectly landed into the trash basket hanging over his back. Nakano falls is one of Konoha's favorite fun spots and is flocked by thousands of tourists, especially young girls, from all over the country every year. Today, the local hotel has hired Team Eleven to clean the garbage that the picnic goers have left behind.

"Stupid tourists..." Naruto grumbled as he continued to pick up the trash while keeping his feet over the surface of the stream using the skill he learned from the water walking exercise. The hot sun relentlessly beating him from above made Naruto look up to wipe the sweat trickling down from the soggy cloth of his hite-ate. It was during this time that he got another glance at the whole extent of the area he had to clean. The sight of which didn't make him smile at all.

"At this rate I won't be finish until way after sunset." Naruto said with a sad face. "I know!" Naruto suddenly exclaimed when a light bulb flashed inside his head. He crossed his hands and performed the hand seal of his favorite jutsu. "Kagebunshin no Jutsu!" Upon execution, about a dozen Naruto clones appeared into existence over the water. "Everyone go clean up the stream!" The real Naruto ordered.

"Yeah!" All clones replied raising their fists into the air before spreading out covering more of the stream. It was a brilliant idea indeed. The increase in the number of bodies working all at once resulted in the work being done at a much faster pace, only that it gave Naruto a sudden, unforeseen setback. Him releasing a massive amount of chakra upon invoking Kagebunshin caused a slight slip on the real Naruto's chakra control thus making him to fall into the water.

"Somebody help!" Naruto shouted aloud while frantically moving his arms in a futile attempt to swim against the stream's current. The water swept the poor boy helplessly along until he reached the edge of the water fall.

"Free Fall–!!!" Naruto screamed as he plummeted down the high falls. To his surprise, his descend suddenly stopped. Looking up, he saw one of his clones holding his legs while another clone held that one's legs and another held that one's legs so on until ultimately the clone holding all the rest had his feet stick using chakra on an outlying branch.

"Whew! That was close." Naruto sighed in relief. Suddenly the branch the clone on the top of the line was hanging unto snapped sending everyone into a wild ride down the water falls. Their combined screams echoing loudly against the rocky cliff walls. "WAAAAAHHHH!!!"

* * *

D-Ranked Mission No. 7: Walking the Dog.

"Hey! Don't go that way!"

Unfortunately, things seemed to be the other way around as the large dog Naruto was supposed to be taking for a walk was the one dragging the blonde boy around. "Hey! Come on!" Naruto pleaded. All his efforts into the pulling were held in vain as the dog continued its advance towards the wire fenced area that side of the woods. "Hold it! Wait!"

Sitting up on the branch of a nearby tree, Itachi sat in silence while he watched his student perform the task specified on the mission.

Naruto was starting to panic, his face turning pale after he realized where the dog was dragging him into. "T-that's the trap field!" A series of blasts echoed throughout the place when the mines buried on the other side of the fence were unwittingly set off. The result was a smoldering heap of charred Naruto while the dog stood next to him with its tongue lulling out of its mouth, blowing dog breath straight into the boy's face.

Itachi didn't show any change of emotions, maintaining his cold visage even after witnessing Naruto screw up on his latest mission.

* * *

"Ehehehe… Who would have thought I'd earn these much from all those crappy missions! All the boredom and hard work finally paid off!" A happy, money-eyed Naruto exclaimed. "Gama-chan, you're so cute when you're this fat!" The boy continued, rubbing his bulging frog wallet against his cheek in glee. A few moments later Naruto finally pulled the frog wallet off his face and placed it back inside his gray kimono. The blonde straightened out his dress first before taking a step out of his apartment and into the colorful and jam-packed streets of the Hidden Leaf Village, his spiky hair falling over his bangs from the absence of the hite-ate around his forehead. "Alright! I'm going to have fun at the Autumn Festival tonight!" Naruto announced, throwing his fists vigorously into the air.

The Autumn Festival is a festival annually held in Konoha. Traditionally, it was done to honor the great gods that watches over the village. However, modern times have brought new meaning to the celebration. Shortly after the end of the Three Secret World War Sandaime Hokage ordered that the festivities are now to be held in honor of the heroes who selflessly offered their lives for the village. This meant every single leaf shinobi who have died in performance of their duties, including those from the distant past all the way to the present.

During this time of the year, every single person in Konoha goes out into the amply decorated streets wearing their best kimonos. Individuals from the many shinobi clans of Konoha wear robes with their clan's crest imprinted on the back, a way to boast and make proud of one's own lineage to the village.

Also during this time, stalls sprout out like mushrooms all over the village selling all sorts of merchandise from the rarest and most exotic items, jewelries, shinobi weapons, scrolls, and more importantly, food.

"Alright, first I'll fill up my stomach." Naruto said tapping his growling stomach. And such became his target: to scour the village for as many variants of food that he could lay his hands on. The boy ran from stall to stall buying all sorts of delicacies they had to offer. Takoyaki, cotton candy, chocolate banana, yakisoba, these are some of the things inside the large paper bag containing all of his haul and for once it didn't had ramen with it.

"Um… Now what's next?" Naruto asked to no one in particular, his fully loaded stomach now bulging against his robes. A satisfied look spread across his face after he practically devoured every single treat in the paper bag leaving only the packaging for the dumpster. The boy wandered aimlessly along the crowded street until he heard familiar voices calling his name.

"Naruto-niisan!!"

"Oh, it's just you guys." Naruto said turning to face the three infamous kids. Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon had stopped right next to him, each one panting heavily after breaking through that long run to meet their so-called 'Leader'. The kids too were wearing their best kimonos but the thing that really took the older boy's notice was the fact the kids didn't put on their googles, something that he rarely sees of the Konohamaru Corps.

"Naruto-niisan! We need your help!" Konohamaru said with a tone of urgency.

"Why? Is something wrong?"

Instead of answering, Konohamaru first took out a poster and flashed its contents at Naruto. "Naruto-niisan, we need your help for this!"

"Huh?" Naruto took the poster to examine it carefully. It appears to be some kind of advertisement or something. The large drawing of an ugly ape wearing some sort of ninja garments with a matching leaf hite-ate over the monster's forehead caught most of his attention. "What's this?"

"That's the super rare, limited edition Demon Monkey King Enma plush doll that we want to have. To get that, we need to collect coupons from the game stalls around town. The total must be at least one thousand points in exchange for one doll but we only have five hundred points so far." Konohamaru explained pulling out a medium-sized plastic bag filled with paper coupons. "'niisan, we need your help so that we can collect the remaining five hundred points."

"Please help." Udon seconded, sniffing aloud to pull the snot back inside his nose.

"Hmm…" Naruto sounded placing his hand under his chin while he gave the idea some serious thought. 'Playing games is kinda fun but I've already spent about half of my savings. I need to save money for the rainy days…'

"Please, Leader." Moegi asked sporting her trademark pleading puppy-dog eyes. Konohamaru and Udon followed the little girl's example making a combined effect that even the toughest shinobi will have a hard time resisting.

"Hmm…" Naruto finally dropped his all serious look and went to flash a wide grin over the kids. "Okay!"

"Yehey!" The kids exclaimed in unison, jumping in glee after hearing that from Naruto.

* * *

"Last one! Here goes!" Naruto said aloud before throwing a small disk straight towards the paper target situated several meters away. As the disk flew, the air around caused it to change directions every so often but ultimately it homed in on its mark knocking out the ninth one in nine throws.

"You're so cool, 'niisan! You got a perfect score!" Konohamaru exclaimed while Moegi and Udon clapped from the background.

"Ehehehe…" Naruto snickered scratching the back of his head in mock modesty. 'It's all thanks to my shuriken training.'

All in all, Naruto had lots of fun with Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon that night. He found the games enjoyable that he readily forgot about his earlier reluctance to spend more of his savings. The gang moved from stall to stall knocking out the games one after the other and collecting the needed coupons as they went. Of course the cold eyes and the hateful glares from the adults still run about but Naruto choose not to mind them and went on living up the rest of the night. He had tough training from Itachi-sensei waiting tomorrow morning; tough as in he'll beat the living daylights out of you tough, or worst another boring D-ranked mission. And such that he didn't want to spend his rare day-off worrying about what stupid, biased grown-ups think.

"Com'on Naruto-niisan! We're almost there!" Konohamaru cheered. The group was next found along the goldfish catching stall. Again Naruto was the one playing the game, not to mention pay the admission, while the three provided the much needed moral support.

"Do your best, Leader!" chirped Moegi.

Naruto dipped the paper scoop into the tank filled with all sorts of goldfishes. He managed to fish a fat one out of the water but unfortunately the now soggy paper scoop wasn't able to resist its load's weight and finally broke open allowing the goldfish to plunge back into the water. "Huh? Damn…" Naruto seethed in frustration.

"That one was worth fifty points. Too bad…" Udon commented.

"I guess you're just not good with this one, 'niisan." Konohamaru shook his head at the sight of the numerous broken scoops littered on the ground around Naruto.

"I'm not done yet. Just watch…" Naruto said pulling the sleeves of his kimono back. He took a deep breath and placed himself in some kind of preparatory pose while scanning water to pick his target. "Okay! Here goes!" Naruto plunged and pulled the paper scoop in and out of the water with so much speed and strength that the unfortunate goldfish he had set his eyes on flew high into the air. Everyone, including the stall keeper, followed the fish's flight with their eyes.

"Hehe! Look's like you've overdone it kid," chuckled the stall keeper.

With gravity finally putting its influence, the fish began its sharp descend and unwittingly landed inside the stall keeper's mouth. Naruto, Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon all had their eyes growing as wide as saucers at the unexpected sight. Unable to control themselves, the four kids then burst into fits of laughter. The fun was short lived though when stall keeper turned his head at them, his face flushing in anger while large knots of nerves rose over his forehead and steam from his nostrils. The man spitted the goldfish back into the tank and began gritting his teeth.

"A-ano… w-we'll be going now…" A shaking Naruto excused himself, inching his way slowly to the side with the rest of the Konohomaru Corps nodding vehemently from behind, moving along with their fateful Leader.

"GET BACK HERE YOU PUNKS!!!"

The brats all made a mad dash away from the stall, running as fast as they can for their dear lives.

* * *

Later that night, the three little kids walked down the street with such wide grins on their faces. Konohamaru carried the large Enma plush doll that was about half his own height. Walking on each side of the feisty kid, Moegi and Udon admired their group's haul for the night. "This year's festival is really the best!" Konohamaru said aloud gaining nods of approval from Moegi and Udon.

Meanwhile, several steps behind Naruto didn't seem to share the kids' sentiments. "Gama-chan…" Hanging his dejected face low, the blonde moaned for his flat-out frog wallet that had been sucked dry of every single bit of money it once had.

"Geez, festivals are too troublesome."

Naruto stopped lamenting his loss, his face instantly growing a wide smile after spotting a couple of old classmates. "Hey! Shikamaru! Chouji!" Naruto called out, waving his hand at the thin boy with his long black hair tied in spiky fashion at the back of his head. Next to him was an overly fat boy munching away a large bag of chips.

"Naruto?" Shikamaru muttered as Naruto walked over towards them.

"Hehe… Those kimonos look good on you." Naruto commented snickering softly. Shikamaru had a perfectly fitting green kimono while Chouji got a large sky bluish one. It suited the large boy perfectly that he almost didn't look fat at all. Unfortunately, the fact that he was standing next to Shikamaru countered that effect. "You guys don't look like idiots at all."

"Stop calling us that. How annoying." Shikamaru said, frowning a bit. Chouji, on the other hand, continued to gobble up his chips.

Naruto continued to flash a teasing wide mouthed grin at the duo when suddenly, he felt someone tugging the edge of his sleeves. He immediately looked down and found it to be Konohamaru. His other friends, Moegi and Udon were standing on right next to the hokage's grandson.

"Naruto-niisan. Who are these guys?" Konohamaru asked.

"Ah, they're my classmates back at the Academy. This is Nara Shikamaru." Naruto said pointing at the said boy. "He always complains and is lazy about everything. He's a complaining idiot."

"Ohhh…" The Konohamaru Corps sounded.

Shikamaru merely grimaced at the not so good introduction Naruto gave him. Saying anything felt to be too much trouble.

Next, Naruto turned to the other kid who's been silent the whole time, that is if you put as an exception the annoying sound of chewing chips. "And this is Akimichi Chouji. He's always eating something. He's a fat ass idiot that can only eat." The blonde continued and the kids erupted into laughter.

Suddenly, Chouji stopped eating. His face turned dead serious and a tense feeling slowly filled the air making Naruto, Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon uncomfortably silent.

'That idiot. He knows that that word is taboo for Chouji.' Shikamaru thought, slapping his forehead at the brewing trouble.

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU I'M NOT FAT! I'M BIG BONED!" Chouji yelled so loud that the people around all turned their collective attentions towards the group. The Konohamaru Corps found the fat boy to be very scary and went to hide themselves behind Naruto.

"Ah… um… y-yeah… you're right Ch-Chouji… you're not fat. My bad. Ehehehe…" Naruto laughed uneasily. The sight of a raging Chouji towering over him was really unnerving. The Akimichi boy seemed to have managed to almost double his size without using any specialty jutsu whatsoever and had became so intimidating that it made Naruto's knees shake.

"You even had the gut to say it again! I'm really going to beat you to a pulp!" Chouji said through seethed teeth.

"N-no, no, that's not what I meant! I was actually telling Konohamaru how cool and handsome you are. Really." Naruto pleaded, waving his hands frantically at Chouji who was already cracking his knuckles as a sort of a warm up before he goes to massacring the loudmouthed fox boy.

"Hey! You guys seem to be having fun there." A brash voice sounded catching everyone in the group's attention.

"Kiba!" Naruto was really thankful to the spiky haired boy and his little white puppy, Akamaru, for the distraction for it had saved his neck greatly. Chouji seemed to have suddenly lost interest in him and went back to his munchies.

Kiba, with his brownish kimono and Akamaru slumped on top of his head as always, moved closer standing a couple of steps to the left of Naruto. "Hey, how's life as a genin? Not as boring as in the Academy I hope."

"It was great! I get to learn all kinds of neat stuff from Itachi-sensei! I also get to do some super exciting and dangerous mission for the village as well!" Naruto bragged. Behind him, Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon cringed in fear at the mention of his sensei's name. It seems that they have yet to forget what they had gone under the coldhearted jounin. "How's that? I'm a step closer to being hokage now!"

"And what kind of missions are those, huh?" Kiba asked teasingly. From the looks of it, it seems that he still found it too good to believe that Naruto had actually graduated a year ahead of them given his sink bottom performance.

"Hah! Let me tell you about my most exciting mission." Naruto went to narrate the experience on his first mission. "Team Eleven, composed of me and Itachi-sensei, was deployed on a forest not too far away from Konoha. It was damp and dark, giant trees growing too close to one another and worst, the entire place was crawling with huge bugs, giant snakes, blood leeches and all sorts of creepy monsters." Naruto started modulating his voice to achieve both thrilling and frightening effects.

"L-leader… that's s-scary…" Moegi said her voice was shaking along with the rest of her body. She and Udon hid themselves behind Konohamaru. The honored brat showed a courageous look, not willing to show any sign of fear as he stood next to Naruto and listening to his story, although he was hugging the Enma doll so tightly.

"Just cut out all the crappy stuff and get on with it." Kiba said waving his hands dismissively at Naruto. Over his head, Akamaru barked seconding his master.

"Hmph! You're just jealous!" Naruto retorted sticking his tongue out at Kiba. "Now where was I? Oh yeah! We we're given an A-ranked mission by the hokage-jiichan to hunt down an enemy spy that was trying to escape away from the village."

"'niisan! Is that the same guy who blasted that large hole at the Administration Building a month ago?!" An enthusiastic Konohamaru asked.

"Umm… Yes. He's the one." Naruto replied with a nod firing Konohamaru's excitement. Kiba snorted at it. Shikamaru found it too troublesome to comment and Chouji was just eating. "Anyway, we arrived at the place and…"

* * *

A-Ranked(?) Mission No. 1: Capture the Enemy Spy.

"This is Naruto, arrived at the designated point."

"Okay. Get ready." Itachi said into the communicator. Up on a high branch, the jounin was well hidden behind the thick blanket of leaves, watching the enemy from the safety of his vantage point. He could clearly see the target moving his head from side to side making sure that no one was around before he continued to run deeper into the forest. "The target has moved. After it!"

Naruto proceeded to follow the escapee stealthily, keeping in mind to put adequate distance between him and the target as to avoid detection. Soon enough, the spy halted his advance to take a much needed break. A safe distance away, Naruto hid himself behind the trunk of a large tree. "Okay, he's here." The blonde reported into the communicator. He was staying still keeping a sharp eye on the target while waiting for further instructions.

"What's the distance to the target?"

"Twelve meters." Naruto replied. "I'm ready to go."

"Okay. Go!"

Upon command, Naruto slipped out of his hiding place and went to engage the target. He was moving so fast that the enemy spy didn't find enough time to react before Naruto caught up with him.

* * *

"And that's how I captured the spy." Naruto finished.

"Naruto-niisan! You're so cool!" Konohamaru exclaimed eyes gleaming with admiration so did Moegi and Udon. Naruto laughed lightly scratching the back of his head in a gesture of mock modesty.

"A-Ranked eh?" Shikamaru asked, apparently unconvinced by Naruto's story. "You're just a rookie genin. I doubt they'd even give you a C-Ranked Mission. The most missions that you'd probably get will be D ones."

"Yeah." Kiba seconded. "Stop telling made-up, over exaggerated tales. It's really annoying."

"You're just making it up, Naruto-niisan?" A very disappointed Konohamaru asked.

"N-no!" Naruto, flustered and all, answered. He vented his spleen at Kiba in a lame effort to divert unwanted attention. "Hey! Dog breath! Take that back!"

"Catch an enemy spy? It's most likely a mission to catch a cat or something." Kiba continued crossing his arms confidently as he spoke.

"It wasn't just a cat!" Realizing what he had just said, Naruto immediately placed his hands to cover his mouth. However, it was all too late as the damage of the slip-up had already been done.

"Haha! Gotcha!" Kiba sounded triumphantly. Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon glanced sideways with narrowed eyes at Naruto.

"O-okay fine!" Naruto finally admitted. "But it wasn't just a cat! It was really a huge tiger, the pet of the wife of the Fire Country daimyo."

"Yeah right…" Everyone muttered skeptically with the exception of Chouji.

"Anyway," Naruto continued snatching the Enma plush doll from Konohamaru. "When I finally caught up with him, that bastard cat didn't want to go out without a fight. It went like this and this and this…" Naruto went on simulating the 'great battle' with the large doll. Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon became horror struck when they saw the blonde beat the helpless, inanimate monkey, the same precious toy that they've all spent their entire savings to get. "…he moved here so I punched him here and then I kicked him right in the kisser and…!"

Naruto became so engrossed with the play fight that he accidentally placed too much force into his kick causing the doll to fly up into the air. It didn't there for long and crashed down – right on the head of a nearby tourist who was snapping pictures of the place with his camera. The said tourist, a fifteen year old boy with a thin build and somewhat wimpy appearance, fell face first literally kissing the street from the blow.

"Hey, are you okay?" Naruto asked walking over to help the boy up while the three kids went to pick up their prized possession and began checking it for damages. Thankfully, aside from the dirt on its white fur, the Enma dolled looked perfectly fine.

"Do I look like I'm okay, you idiot?!" The raging tourist screamed aloud. He was burning with so much anger that he was literally blowing Naruto's blonde locks and kimono back as he spoke. He took what remained of his camera and flashed it right into the foxy blonde's face. "Look at what you've done to my camera! It's totally broken!"

"I-I'm sorry…" Naruto apologized, bowing his head once and working to scratch his hair uneasily.

"Sorry?! Is that all you can say?! You have to pay me back my camera!" The tourist demanded.

"B-but you see… I don't have any more money." Naruto said showing him his empty frog wallet.

"Figures!" The tourist harrumphed, crossing his arms. "This village is the worst I've ever been on! So full of idiots, stoic bastards, stuck-up now-it-alls, and incompetent ninjas! I can't believe that I actually came here!"

"Don't talk big, idiot! If that's what you feel about Konoha then nobody's making you come! You can leave for all I care! We don't need dumb, wimpy bastards like you here either!" Naruto yelled back, angered by all the insults the guy had said about the village.

The young tourist was stunned at Naruto's sudden outburst. He never imagined the blonde to be way louder than he is. It took a while before the teen finally pulled himself together. "There's no way I'd leave until you pay me back my camera! I'm going to report you to the police!" He retorted.

"I told you I don't have any money! I'll pay you back once I've completed more missions!" Naruto countered.

"Hey, Naruto! Will that take long? The float parade is about to start," said Kiba.

"Geez. What a troublesome guy." Shikamaru sighed.

"We'll be going then. See you guys at the Nakano Shrine. That's where the procession's going to start." Kiba waved at the blond before turning around and walking down the street heading for the local shrine. "Let's go." He said acting all bossy to both Shikamaru and Chouji. The two simply went to follow after him without so much of an argument as Shikamaru simply found it to too troublesome to argue.

"Hey guys! Wait!" Naruto called out. He was about to run after them but was stopped on track when he felt a hand grabbed him on the shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going, buster?! We're not done yet!" The angry tourist said.

'Damn it! This guy's annoying!' thought Naruto.

"Leader hurry. The parade's going to start soon," said Moegi.

"Naruto-niisan, go beat that ugly bastard's ass to the ground!" Konohamaru egged on. Well, even though he was really clumsy Naruto is still a ninja and surely he can skin that wimpy boy alive. Of course that sort of action will make a bad impression about Konoha ninjas but the heck, this is an emergency and besides what can a single tourist do? "'niisan, hurry up and use your awesome new jutsu!"

"Justu? Yeah that's right!" Naruto exclaimed in sudden realization. "Konohamaru, get ready!"

Noticing the hand seal Naruto has formed, Konohamaru immediately caught on. "Okay!" Konohamaru nodded, a wide confident grin spread across his face. Both him and Naruto began to their channel chakra and performed Konohagakure's most powerful ninjutsu. "Oiroke no Jutsu!"

A puff of smoke later and two luscious, buck naked babes were now on the place where the two kids once stood. The tourist suddenly stiffened, his face turning overly red before powerful squirts of blood from his nostrils blasted the poor teenage boy straight to the moon and back.

Naruto and Konohamaru dispelled the jutsu. "Com'on! Let's go!" Naruto screamed, dragging with him a couple of stunned and heavily blushing Moegi and Udon while Konohamaru went to pick up the Enma plush doll. The two boys pelted through the street as fast as they can with two reasons in mind. First was to get away from the scene before more trouble arrives and second, to make it to the Nakano Shrine before the famous float parade started.

"Mikoshi-sama, I've bought some hotdogs!" A beautiful young woman called out as she marched into that part of the street. The huge smile on her face was immediately replaced with shock, the pair of sandwiches falling off her hands, when she saw the teenager lying on the ground twitching with a small puddle of blood forming on the ground next to his face from the blood still streaming from his nose.

It wasn't just him though, almost every single male person who have seen the deadly Oiroke no Jutsu performed in public fainted from severe blood loss. Even the females weren't spared as most of them were left stunned, mouths hanging with faces glowing bright red. Those who have arrived on the scene just recently were astonished at the scale of devastation.

"Mikoshi-sama!" The woman called worriedly running for the poor boy's aid.

* * *

Team Eleven reported to the Administration Building early the next morning. Wasting no time, the Uchiha prodigy led his pupil straight to the reception room for clients which also happened to be same place where missions are assigned to the various ninja teams of the village. The room was spacious and was almost pretty much empty except for the long tables situated on the far end of the room behind which the Hokage and his administrative-nins sat. Another thing that decorated the place was the large banner hanging on the ceiling with the words "Everyone, do your best!" across.

Itachi, followed closely by Naruto, marched towards the center of the room. "Uchiha Itachi and Uzumaki Naruto of genin team number eleven reporting for duty." Itachi addressed bowing his head in due respect for the hokage. Naruto, not being one for manners, quickly lowered his head imitating his sensei only after he had finished with the greetings.

"Enough with the pleasantries, I see that you've come quite early for today's mission." Sandaime said waving his hand and gesturing the two to stand back up which they promptly did. The old man shifted his attention to the short blonde. "Naruto, did you enjoy last night's festival?"

"Oh yes! It was sooo much fun! In fact I'm still pumped up I'm ready to take on the mission!" Naruto exclaimed aloud.

The old hokage nodded approvingly of Naruto's high spirits. He then took out the team's list of duties. "Now for Itachi's Team Eleven, your next mission is… hmm… Babysitting Yojyu-sama's grandson, grocery shopping in the neighboring town, help digging up potatoes at–"

"NO!" Naruto screamed aloud crossing his arms forming an X to show his objection. "No! No! No, thank you! I want to do a more exciting mission! Find me something else!"

The hokage simply sighed at Naruto's impatience. "Naruto, you're still a novice. Everyone starts with easy missions to gain experience. Isn't that right Itachi?"

"Hai hokage-sama." Itachi replied with a nod.

"But! But! We're only doing the crappiest missions there is! And Itachi-sensei isn't doing anything at all! All he does is sit under the shade and make me do all the dirty work!" Naruto complained.

Itachi shifted his eyes down and cast a disapproving look at his loudmouthed pupil. "Naruto-kun. Behave yourself in front of hokage-sama."

"Hmm… It seems like I have to explain to you what missions are." Sandaime began. The old man seemed to have success in catching Naruto's elusive attention. "Listen, a lot of clients comes to this village everyday. They request things from babysitting to assassination. Each request is written down on these lists and is divided into ranks A, B, C and D according to the level of difficulty." The hokage explained, referring to the various scrolls spread out before him. "The shinobis of the village is also divided according to skill. Missions are then assigned to shinobis with the appropriate abilities. And if we successfully complete the mission we receive payment from the client."

"Naruto, you are still a rookie genin so D-ranked missions are perfect for you." Sandaime finished only to find out that the said blonde had been totally inattentive the whole time and was wondering aloud about what ramen he will be having for dinner. "Hey! Listen!!!" The old man shouted angrily.

"Geez! 'jiichan, that's what, the fifth time I've heard you talk about that boring mission crap! You always lecture me about stuff like this and stuff like that!" Naruto retorted, shifting his attention back to the hokage. "But you know, I'm not the kid who used to pull pranks anymore! Hmph!" Naruto pouted, crossing his arms and turning back at the old man.

Sandaime's expression softened after hearing those. 'He was only able to express himself through pranks…' Chuckling inwardly, the hokage conceded grabbing the C-ranked mission list from the table. "I understand. If you insist, I'll give you a C-ranked mission. It is to escort two people."

"Really?!" sounded Naruto. The elder's sudden change of heart certainly surprised the brash genin and even his stoic sensei. "YAY! Who?! Who?! Is it a daimyo?! Or maybe a princess?!" Naruto continued to ask, his face shining with excitement and enthusiasm.

"Don't get so hasty. I'll introduce them right now." The hokage then turned towards the door. "Can you two please come in now?"

Both Naruto and Itachi turned behind. The door slowly opened revealing a beautiful woman with long, flowing, jet-black hair who seemed to be about only around her early twenties. "Good morning. I'm Kurisawa Chitose and this is my young master, Takayama Mikoshi-sama. We are greatly honored to meet you." The woman bowed politely immediately after giving her short introduction.

Standing next to her was a boy that Naruto had no problem recognizing. That turned out to be mutual as the boy's eyes also grew wide in surprise and disbelief the moment he caught sight of Naruto.

"AHHH!!! It's you!" Both of them shouted, pointing at the other with perfectly synchronized chain of movements.


	9. Chapter 9: First Engagement

Rants: I'm back! I've been going through this story for nine chapters already and it is only now that I remembered to write this down.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto,its characters or any part of the manga and anime. This piece work ofwas made only for the sole purpose of having fun. I am not making any money from this so please don't sue meˆˆ

Damn, that felt good.

* * *

"AHHH!!! It's you!" Both of boys shouted, pointing disbelievingly at the other.

"Hmm? You two know each other? That's good then. It'll make the introductions short." The Hokage said.

"Mikoshi-sama! You've made a new friend! I'm glad!" Chitose exclaimed clapping her hands in glee, both her eyes turning moon-shaped while a wide smile spread across her face.

"NO HE'S NOT!! T-that's the indecent bastard who broke my camera!" shouted Mikoshi. He can still clearly picture the utter humiliation he received last night after Naruto and his little sidekick Konohamaru both performed the Oiroke no Jutsu on him.

"HA! Don't talk big you wimpy-looking pervert!" Naruto retorted.

"WHY YOU–!!"

"But you two seems to get along…" Chitose said placing a finger under her chin and sounded a bit confused.

"NO WE'RE NOT!!" Naruto and Mikoshi both shouted in response. 'What's with that oneesan. She's beautiful but she seems so dense.' Naruto thought, glancing at the mild mannered girl with narrowed eyes.

"Tell us what your request is." Itachi asked in an all serious tone of voice which caught Naruto, Mikoshi and Chitose's combined attentions. The way he said things made it sound more like a command than a question.

"Oh yeah, that's right." Chitose clapped once after being reminded of their reason for being here. "Mikoshi-sama and I are both tourists who came to see Konohagakure's famous Autumn Festival. Unfortunately, something came up back at home and we need to return right away but the group we came here with won't be leaving until next week. We couldn't go back on our own because we fear that some gang or armed robbers might come after us on the way. That is why we came to ask for your help. We need you to escort us all the way until we reach our home at the capital of the Water Country." She explained flashing a wide, childlike smile afterwards.

"'neesan, don't tell me that we're going to travel with that super stupid blonde moron?!" Mikoshi asked sounding totally scandalized at the idea. He raised a hand and pointed at the orange-clad boy for emphasis. "He looks more of a clown than a ninja to me."

Naruto didn't appreciate the praise and went all berserk. "I'LL KILL YOU!!! I'm going to kill you!" Good thing Itachi grabbed the collar of his jacket thus preventing him from cobbering the client they were supposed to protect. Against that, all that Naruto could do was to flail his arms and legs wildly in the air while shouting death threats at the offending kid.

"Naruto-kun, you have thirty minutes. Go home and pack your things for the trip afterwards report at the village's gates." Itachi instructed his pupil. Next, the Uchiha prodigy shifted his attention to the clients. "Mikoshi-kun and Chitose-san, please go pick up your luggage and meet with us at the same place. Also, please try not to be late."

"Okay." Chitose answered, nodding.

"Hmph! I don't like this at all." Naruto grumbled, crossing his arms as he marched towards the door. When he passed by Mikoshi, the boys caught each other's eyes. Immediately the two boys glared at the other, heated sparks flying from their eyes that lasted for a few seconds. After the short exchange, the two frowned and turned their heads sharply away upon which Naruto continued to march out of the room.

"Let's go, young master." Chitose said to the fifteen-year-old standing next to her. Mikoshi replied with a nod and the two left for the hotel to go get the rest of their stuff.

* * *

Two shadows raced silently through the woods.

* * *

"Alright! Let's go!" Naruto exclaimed aloud, both arms raised vigorously into the air, as the group of four took their first steps out of Konoha's massive gates.

"Hey, what are you so excited about?" Mikoshi asked sounding slightly pissed of Naruto's carefree attitude.

"Because I've never been abroad before. This will be the first time that I'm going to leave the Fire Country." Naruto explained wholeheartedly.

"I'm happy for you, Naruto-kun." Chitose said, clapping her hands and smiling widely at the energetic orange bundle.

"Hmph! What a brat." Mikoshi muttered grumpily. The boy turned his head sharply at the black clad teen standing just a couple of steps away. "Hey! Are we really going to be safe with that idiot hanging around?! He doesn't look very reliable!" Mikoshi asked pointing a finger straight at Naruto. Naruto, of course hearing it, stopped jumping around and started seething angrily whilst throwing deadly glares at the boy.

"I am a jounin. There is nothing to worry about." Itachi replied. His words, however, didn't come as much of an assurance for the irritable boy.

'Actually, you look kinda suspicious too.' Mikoshi thought, watching Itachi through narrowed eyes.

"Grrr…" Naruto crossed his arms, his eyes twitching uncontrollably in anger. 'Dammit! This idiot is totally disrespecting us. I need to say something.' The blonde kid raised his arm and pointed furiously back at the insolent teen. "Hey idiot! Don't go underestimating ninjas!" Naruto moved the finger away from Mikoshi's direction and pointed towards himself. "I am incredible! I am an elite ninja who will one day receive the super great ninja title 'Hokage'! The name's Uzumaki Naruto! Remember it!"

Mikoshi didn't appear to be moved at all. He simply placed his arms at the back of his head and gave a wide yawn. "Hokage is the Leaf village's number one ninja, right?" He cast an incredulous look at Naruto, staring at him from head to foot. "I don't think a brat like you will ever become one." Mikoshi followed, shifting his head away.

"Shut up! I'm willing to go through any hardship to become Hokage!" Naruto shouted angrily. "If I become a Hokage then you and everyone else will have to acknowledge me!"

Mikoshi shifted his eyes back at Naruto for a second then rolled it away once more and began to stroll away. "Who's going to acknowledge a brat like you? Even if you become Hokage..."

Naruto gritted his teeth as he felt his temper reach new heights. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!" The raging blonde rushed forward ready to go out on a rampage. Itachi quickly grabbed unto Naruto's collar as soon as he took his first step forward thus stopping a full scale riot from erupting. "Let go, Itachi-sensei!" Naruto screamed, futilely fighting against his teacher's hold.

"Cut it out." Itachi commanded in a calm, cold voice.

"No! No! Let me at least hit him once!" Naruto pleaded waving his arms angrily into air, giving away the promise of a loud smack if they ever get within reach of the smug boy.

Unknown to any of them, two shadows have been lurking about. Hiding within the thick foliage of the forest along the roadside, the hunters watched the group intently, patiently waiting for the right moment to strike just like the predators who are going after their prey.

* * *

"Ne, Chitose-neesan?"

"Hai?" The pretty young woman responded turning over to Naruto.

"You guys are from the Water Country, right?"

"Uh huh." Chitose sounded, nodding her head in affirmation.

"Then, are there also ninjas in your country?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah there are. And they're not as stupid-looking as you." Mikoshi interjected with a smug look on his face.

"SHUT UP!!" Naruto snapped angrily at the other boy.

"That's right." Chitose answered, beaming down at the blonde with the perpetual smile that never seemed to leave off the girl's face. "The culture and customs of our country is a bit different from yours but a shinobi village also exists in the Water Country and we call it the Hidden Mist Village."

"Wow!" Naruto exclaimed his face starting to shine with excitement. "Then, then do you also have someone like the Hokage there?"

Chitose nodded again. "Hai. We also have someone like that but we don't address him as Hokage, instead we address him as Mizukage."

"Mizukage eh?" Naruto continued, becoming more curious as the more of his questions get answered. "Ne, ne, Chitose-neesan, what kind of a person is the Mizukage like? Is he a great man that will do anything to protect the village? Like a hero or something cool like that?"

"Let's see…" Chitose placed a finger underneath her chin as she gave the answer some thought. "I'm sorry Naruto-kun but I'm not very familiar with the Mizukage. You see, Mikoshi-sama and I live at the capital of the Water Country and it is located quite far away from the Hidden Mist Village…" The girl looked over and smiled at Naruto once more. "…but I think he might be something just like that."

"I see…" Naruo muttered, his eyes shining with admiration.

"Demo Naruto-kun," It was now Chitose's turn to ask. "Isn't your Hokage also a great man of honor?"

"Hokage-jiichan?" Naruto repeated. 'Hah! That old pervert a great man?' The kid shook his head as he recalled the numerous times he pulled his secret move, Oiroke no Jutsu, and the old man's eyes would instantly grow as wide as saucers. Powerful geysers of blood spurting out of the old lecher's nose and the great Hokage would then be reduced to a fainted old pervert twitching on the floor. 'Unlikely. Very unlikely.'

"Naruto-kun."

The blonde was snapped back to reality though after he heard Itachi's voice call his name. The remotest idea that his sensei was somehow able to read his mind made Naruto nervous to the core.

"You just doubt Hokage-sama, didn't you?"

Naruto quickly shook his head vehemently in denial.

"If the Hokage is as great as you say…" Mikoshi rolled his eyes away so as not to catch Naruto's when he continued in a conclusive tone. "…then I guess that's just another reason why you won't become one."

"You really want a piece of me, shit face!" Naruto roared angrily flashing his tightened fist at the older kid.

"Oh my, Mikoshi-sama and Naruto-kun do get along perfectly with each other. How wonderful." A delighted Chitose exclaimed clasping her hands in glee. Itachi, on the other hand, remained completely silent; his face betrayed no trace of emotion, apparently unaffected by the two boys going after each other's throat.

Aside from the bickering that erupted every now and then, the long walk had been all in all uneventful. The scenery also didn't come as any help at all, just a simple dirt road cutting across the dull view of green from the trees and shrubs of the growing along the roadside. In fact, the only thing that broke the monotony of the surroundings was a small puddle on the barren ground, definitely not something worthy of their attention.

After the group had passed seemingly harmless puddle, a shinobi draped in a black cloak with a gas mask-like device covering the lower areas of his face emerged from the shallow pool of water. A second shinobi leapt quickly from behind the first one, launcing himself into the air and after performing some split second maneuver wrapped the thick metal chain linking their heavy gauntlets around the unsuspecting Itachi.

"What?!" Itachi exclaimed in surprise.

"Huh?!"

"What the–?!" sounded Naruto.

"One down." Both shinobis declared, activating the driving mechanisms in their arms. The chain tightened its grip over Itachi until it became too much and his body ripped into pieces. What followed was the sickening sound of flesh and blood falling unto the ground. Not one among Naruto, Mikoshi or Chitose was able to move after witnessing the gruesome sight.

"Itachi-sensei!" Naruto called out. Bad move. The assassins next appeared behind Naruto, the unlucky one who caught their attention and whom they've picked for their next target. The blonde was frozen dead in place when he felt their presence hovering dangerously over his back. He could almost feel the grins that curled over the two shinobis faces.

"Two down."

"Naruto-kun!!" The two Mist shinobis launched their chain straight towards Naruto but before it could wrap itself around the boy, Chitose appeared from out of nowhere knocking the kid out of harm's way.

'We missed?!' Both assassins' eyes widened in disbelief.

Despite the fact that it failed to subject its deadly coil around the intended target, the spiked chain still managed to lash out against the woman, creating a long nasty wound along Chitose's side while Naruto only suffered a small wound on the back of his left hand. Both Naruto and Chitose were blown away by the force of the chain and ended up rolling painfully along the hard ground.

"Chitose-neesan!" Mikoshi called over worriedly.

'The target.' The two Mist shinobis abandoned their pursuit of Naruto and turned their eyes at Mikoshi. Clawed arms at the ready, both assassins pelted their way towards the fifteen year old.

"Mikoshi-sama!" cried Chitose.

Back pressed against the trunk of a large tree and with nowhere to go, Mikoshi could only brace himself as the messengers of death dashed closer and closer. However, before the two could lay their weapons upon the boy, something forcefully rammed against the skull of the shinobi on the left propelling the poor man sideways knocking into the shinobi with a black cloak on his right. The force of the impact threw both shinobis tumbling unto the ground several meters away.

"What the–?" The one with the cloak muttered as he pulled himself up. What meet his eyes caused more than just plain surprise. Lying on the ground just a couple of feet from him was his partner, dead from the kunai that was stuck deeply on the left side of his head.

Looking up, the remaining Mist shinobi saw Itachi, alive and well, standing in front of Mikoshi. The calm, hard and overall confident look on his face made him appear like a real demon that has risen from hell. However, what frightened him the most was the twin red orbs on the man's face. "S-sharingan…" The Mist shinobi squeaked upon catching sight of the man's eyes, the blood red eyes that showed that the man had no remorse whatsoever in killing him.

Itachi marched forward slowly towards the downed shinobi. As he went, he took both hands and pulled out a set of shurikens apiece.

'T-this is bad…' The panicking Mist shinobi thought.

Without a word, Itachi released all the shurikens aiming them towards the Mist shinobi.

Quickly clicking on his clawed metal gauntlet, the cloaked assassin released the chain linking him with his dead comrade and jumped upwards dodging all the shurikens. The Mist shinobi then landed on a branch of a tall tree and quickly made his escape, the thick cloud of leaves concealing him and his trail.

'Itachi-sensei… He's alive…?' "Then, that was…" Naruto, shocked and all, turned his head towards the site the Uchiha prodigy was supposedly killed. What he saw there were clopped pieces of logs scattered along the road. 'Itachi-sensei used Kawarimi…'

"Chitose-neesan, are you ok?" Mikoshi immediately rushed towards Chitose who was now sitting on the ground.

"Don't worry young master, I'm fine." Chitose replied with a smile and a nod. She started gathering chakra over her palm and began healing herself by running her glowing hand over her wounds. "Naruto-kun, don't move too much. I'll be there in a minute." She called out to the blonde kid. "There is poison on those shinobis' claws. We have to remove it quickly. We have to open the wound and leech out the poisoned blood. Please don't move or the poison will spread through your body."

Mikoshi then turned at Itachi. "Stupid show-off! If you were alive, you could have just taken those two bastards out already! Look at what you did! You've made them hurt Chitose-neesan and you almost caused me a heart attack!" The boy railed off.

Itachi, however, simply ignored the client's bitching and walked towards his pupil who was still down on the ground, apparently his shock have not yet washed over. "Naruto-kun…" Itachi said, looking down at Naruto with cold black eyes.

Naruto went to meet Itachi's gaze.

"I'm disappointed with you."

'I… I couldn't do anything…' Deep inside, Naruto felt his heart hurt with the pain of guilt and frustration. He should have been used to it as almost everyone in the village always called him that. Yet, he couldn't understand why it hurt so much now, more than how it was before. 'Why…? Why am I this weak…?'

"Itachi-san, please don't be harsh on Naruto-kun. He did try his best." Chitose said. With her wounds now completely healed, she pulled herself up and walked over to check Naruto's injury as it needed more attention.

Itachi cast one final glance at Naruto before turning his attention at Mikoshi. "This mission is now raised to A-rank and is out of our scope. We will be escorting you back to the village for safety reasons. There, the mission will be turned over to the Anbu. Also, we need to acquire medicine and see a doctor to cure Naruto-kun's injury." Itachi then bowed his head. "I am deeply sorry for this inconvenience."

"I understand…" said Mikoshi.

Unable to bear anymore of it, Naruto gathered his resolve and raised his kunai. He then stabbed the wound on his hand sending quantities of blood flying out, an action that clearly surprised everyone. 'I'm sick of this! I'm sick of always being a failure!'

"Naruto! What are you doing, you idiot?!" exclaimed Mikoshi worriedly.

'I should be stronger… I've accomplished lots of missions and I've practiced my jutsus everyday.' Naruto recalled all the missions and all the hard training Itachi-sensei made him go through. How he was made to run around the village with his body and everything around him feeling more than ten times as heavy as they should be and how he managed to get used to the sensation until it finally felt like normal. How he was made to run up a tree without using his hands. How he had to save Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon from drowning during the water walking exercise. How he practiced the difficult Katon jutsu everyday until he got too exhausted to the point that he'd collapse to the ground.

'I'm not going to need saving ever again.' The recent image of Chitose-neesan jumping over to knock him away from the Mist shinobi's clutches played in his mind. How she, the client he was supposed to be protecting, got painfully wounded to save his behind. He also remembered the time at the forest where Iruka-sensei shielded him from Mizuki's fuuma shuriken.

'I'm not going to be afraid and try to run away.' He remembered his first survival training with Itachi-sensei. That was the same time he promised to himself that he will not run away and went to face jounin with everything that he had, even when the chances of succeeding was very bleak.

"I swear it to the pain in my left arm…" Naruto turned to face the crowd with his blade still stuck on his bloody hand. A confident grin complimented with a set of deep blue eyes shining with determination and strength. "I will protect Chitose-oneesan and that bastard Mikoshi! The mission is still on!"

Itachi eyed Naruto intently. His mind wandered back to the talk he had with Sandaime Hokage-sama early that day.

"Itachi."

Itachi was about to step out of the reception room following Naruto and the clients when he heard the Hokage called. Immediately he turned heel and went to face in a totally respectful fashion. "Hai, Hokage-sama."

"I'll be honest with you. Those two are not just any simple tourists. Especially that kid." Sandaime raised a small scroll in his hand.

Itachi immediately walked over and took the said scroll from the old leader. He then opened the scroll and began to silently browse over its contents. "I see…" Itachi murmured after fully understanding the situation.

"I'm sure you understand why I'm assigning you this mission." The Hokage asked, lowering his pipe down. "This was originally listed as an A-ranked mission and an entire squad from Anbu was supposed to handle it. However, the mission was listed as C because of the boy's specific request. It is something that we cannot simply ignore. You are one my best jounins that is why I am leaving this to you."

"Please don't worry too much about it. My team will handle the mission perfectly." Itachi rolled the scroll up and placed it neatly inside his pocket.

The old man eyed the young jounin with all seriousness. "Listen, if anything outside the scope of a C-ranked mission happens I want you to immediately raise the level of the mission. Afterwards, you are to contact us for reinforcement or head back to the village depending on the situation. Either way, genin team eleven is to quit the mission and will let the Anbu dispatch team to handle the rest of the operation."

There rose a momentary silence in the air during which both Itachi and the Hokage stared at each other. The Hokage's was fierce and intense while Itachi's was a bit subdued. Finally, after short tense seconds Itachi closed his eyes and lowered his head. "I understand. We will do as Hokage-sama wishes."

Backto the present, Itachi nodded. He was greatly moved by his pupil's show of courage. A small smile curled across his lips. "I understand."

"Heh. I guess you're not as bad as you look." Mikoshi commented in his usual grumpy manner, apparently impressed by Naruto's spirit.

"Naruto-kun, it's nice that you took out the poisoned blood so spiritedly…" Chitose once again flashed her wide, carefree, mild-mannered smile at the blonde. "demo, you're going to die from blood loss if more comes out."

Naruto's face turned pale. Large beads of sweat falling from his forehead and the nervous trembling of his body increased.

"It's not good if we don't stop it right away." Chitose continued in a sing-song voice that seemed totally out of place. "Seriously."

"No! No, no, no, no, no!" A panicking Naruto screamed. The blonde was running back and forth, shaking in fear. "I can't die like this!"

"Can you show me your hand?"

"Help me!" Naruto pleaded showing his wounded hand at Chitose.

Holding Naruto's hand, Chitose was quite surprised upon seeing the boy's wound. 'His wounds are already healing?' she asked herself. Nevertheless, Chitose gathered chakra on her left hand and placed it over the boy's wound. The wound started to heal, closing upon itself at an astonishing rate. Soon, all traces of the injury had disappeared and Naruto's hand looked as good as new. "There, you're going to be alright."

"Are you sure…?" Naruto asked, still shaking.

"Of course!" Chitose assured, smiling a sweet smile at Naruto.

Itachi hooked his backpack over his shoulder and glanced over his charges. "Let's get going. We've wasted too much time already. The next town isn't too far from here so if we continue our pace we should reach it before nightfall."

* * *

An abandoned shrine stood in utter silence, hidden from outside world by the tall trees and dense vegetation of the forest that was its protector.

"Please forgive me for failing the mission." The whole place was covered in darkness except for some spots being showered with the little light coming in from the windows along the walls. One such spot is where the Mist shinobi knelt. "I will humbly accept the consequences."

"No need for apologies, Gouzu. He was, after all, an opponent whom you cannot hope to match." A voice hidden within the darkness spoke.

"The loss of Meizu-san was a huge blow on our cause. Also, since the Demon Brothers have failed in the abduction, they will be more cautious so things won't be easy," said a second voice.

"A good thing we have Mizuki's report to thank for. With all its information about Konoha, its shinobis, jutsus and tactics, devising a strategy against that guy should be easy," replied the first voice.

"Even so, fighting against that man and his sharingan will still be difficult. After all, he is hailed as Konohagakure's number one technician. The genius ninja of the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Itachi." The second voice followed.

"I'll go face him," said a third voice. "It's been ages since I last fought a true, worthy opponent."

"No. I'll face him." The owner of the first voice stepped into the light revealing a tall, muscular man. White cloth was wrapped around his head forming a face mask that covered the lower part of his face. Hanging behind his back was a huge sword, the famed Kubikiri Honsho. "I am the Demon of the Mist, Momochi Zabuza."


	10. Chapter 10: Behind The Mist

Rants: Sorry for the super late update, everyone, Decembers been a very busy month. Had to spend many overnights from the super load of schoolworks, midterm exams, plus a date. And they called it 'holidays'?! Anyway, now thatschool break's finally hereI'm going to catch up to my writting and hopeful I'llcatch up with my regular posting schedule. Please enjoy and a merry christmas to everyone. -

* * *

The alarm clock began to ring annoyingly loud. A hand reached out from underneath the huge lump covered in blanket and soon silence filled the entire room. A young boy rose up from the futon, black penguin hat over his blonde head and matching pajamas adorned his body. The boy stretched out his arms and yawned widely after which he got up, eyes half closed, and wandered out of the hotel room heading towards the bathroom located on the far end of the corridor.

Naruto sat quietly on the toilet bowl, ignoring the coldness of the porcelain while he contemplated over the things that had happened.

"One down." He could clearly remember the two enemy shinobis sent to harm Mikoshi and Chitose-neesan declared as they activated the driving mechanisms in their arms. The chain tightened its grip over Itachi-sensei until it became too much and his body ripped into pieces. The sickening sound of flesh and blood falling unto the ground rang through his mind. Back then, he couldn't make himself move after witnessing the gruesome sight.

Naruto's face fell further after his lips turned into a frown.

The assassins next appeared behind Naruto. He became dead frozen back then, unable to move from his place after he felt the enemies' presence hovering dangerously over his back. He could almost feel the grins that curled over the two shinobis faces. "Two down."

"Naruto-kun!!" The two Mist shinobis launched their chain straight towards Naruto but before it could wrap itself around the boy, Chitose-neesan appeared from out of nowhere knocking the kid out of harm's way. The spiked chain lashed out against the woman, creating a long nasty wound along Chitose-neesan's side. He, on the other hand, only suffered a small wound on the back of his left hand.

Naruto raised his left hand and gazed at it intently. There was no longer a wound on it, no pain, not even a scar.

He clearly remembered how the assassins charged dangerously towards Mikoshi. Their huge metal claws ready to rip his body apart. Mikoshi then was back pressed against the trunk of a large tree with nowhere to go. If not for Itachi-sensei appearing just in time, the boy would have been dead.

'I couldn't do anything back then…'

"Naruto-kun…" Itachi-sensei said, looking down at him with cold black eyes. "I'm disappointed with you."

Naruto saw himself raise his kunai and stab the wound on his left hand. "I swear it to the pain in my left arm…" He turned to face the crowd with his blade still stuck on his bloody hand. He then continued with determination and all seriousness, "I will protect Chitose-oneesan and that bastard Mikoshi! The mission is still on!"

Back then, Itachi-sensei nodded at him. He could have sworn he saw a small smile appear over his lips.

Naruto clenched his hand tight, nodded and smiled with new found resolution. 'I will try harder.'

* * *

The inn's pub felt quite spacious for one of a cheap establishment. Most of the tables were vacant except for four tables occupied by guests who were having their breakfasts. Hanging against the wall behind the bar was a television that was tuned in to the early morning news. Unfortunately, aside from the bartender who was obviously enamored to the pretty newscaster, pretty much no one was minding the boob tube any attention.

"On our top stories, the court of the Water Country's daimyo was once again divided over the issue of the ratification of the Alliance Treaty between the Fire and Water Countries. Several ministers opposed to the treaty filibustered yesterday in speeches that lasted about an hour and a half, each pointing out several of the treaty's provisions which they claim as being too much in favor of the Fire Country. These they say could undermine the Water Country's political, military and economic integrity…"

"Looks like things aren't going too smoothly for this country." Seated on the table along the far end of the pub, Mikoshi shook his head lightly, peeling his eyes away from the television.

"Yeah." Chitose, the woman sitting across the boy, seconded.

"Now that we've arrived at the Water Country, another attack seems most probable. Also, with the failure of the first assassination attempt, the enemy will definitely send more powerful shinobis. Starting here, we should take more caution in our actions." Itachi stated.

Mikoshi nodded in agreement.

"…The Hidden Mist Village has assured the public yesterday that there is no truth whatsoever about the rumors of a coup d'etat among its ranks or against the Water Country's government. The Mizukage has reiterated to the press yesterday that Kirigaruke remains supportive of the Alliance Treaty which he said will tie a stronger relationship with the Fire Country and its shinobi village, the Hidden Leaf Village…"

Chitose began rummaging through her bag. "Tada!" The young woman straightened herself in her seat with a wide smile over her face. "Here it is! The most essential item when traveling!" Chitose exclaimed in a purely childish manner. She held out a folded map, indeed a necessity for all tourists, flashing it to the group. Wasting time no further, Chitose spread the map of the Water Country over the table. "We are currently here at the Takefurukuma Village." She explained, pointing at the small dot on the western coast of the large continent. "And this one is the Capital of the Water Country." She continued, moving her finger a few inches left from the first point. "Normally traveling between the two cities only takes about a day if we walk through the most direct road, here."

"However…" Itachi sounded, focusing on the road on the map Chitose just pointed out, carefully analyzing the possible scenarios. "…seeing this to be the fastest route, the enemy will mostly anticipate us taking this road and will be likely to setup an ambush here."

"I know." Mikoshi nodded. "That's why we're taking this road. We'll circle around Mount Ohjin passing by Yunohana hot spring town on the way. This route will probably take us at least three days before we reach the capital but on the bright side, the probability of encountering an ambush here is significantly lesser."

"I understand." Itachi grunted, nodding slightly in approval of the plan.

"…On the other news. The Palace's spokesperson announced that the daimyo's only son and heir, Kanamori Ryuji-sama's health had been improving greatly over the past few days. His doctors advised that the young prince should take ample rest for him to recover faster. During the past weeks rumors have floated around saying that the prince had run away from the palace, the reason they say why he had not been seen by the public lately. The palace quickly denied the allegations saying that the prince was ill and was advised not to make any public appearances due to health reasons…"

"Good morning everyone!" Naruto greeted aloud, picking the time to finally show up.

"Good morning, Naruto-kun." Chitose greeted back.

"You're late." Itachi said, casting a disapproving glance at his student.

"Um…" Naruto sounded, scratching the back of his head. His cheeks were slightly pink and from the way it looked, the blond seemed to be embarrassed with something. "You see… I had diarrhea this morning and…"

"That's not good." Chitose said worriedly. "You should take some medicine immediately."

"Hmph. What a useless moron." Mikoshi commented grumpily.

Naruto's ears perked up after hearing the comment. Eyes narrowed, he quickly faced the boy and flashed his throbbing fist at him. "You want a piece of me, bastard?!"

Mikoshi choose not to retort and mere shifted his head to meet the blonde ninja's glare. Sparks started flying out as soon as their eyes meet. The staring contest only broke up after they heard Itachi speak.

"We're leaving." Itachi ordered. The three other members of the party all turned at him. The jounin already had his backpack strapped over his shoulder and had taken a step out of the table pass Naruto.

"Itachi-sensei, can't we stay for a bit longer?" Naruto pleaded. "I haven't eaten my breakfast yet."

"We can't," came Itachi's cold reply. "Further staying at this place will just be a waste of time and might compromise our position. This could lead to another encounter with enemy shinobis, something that we're trying hard to avoid. Eat your food on the way." Itachi said much to Naruto's disappointment.

Mikoshi and Chitose, silently agreeing to Itachi's point, stood up with their things in tow. Naruto picked up the food at the center of the table that had been wrapped for take out and went after the rest of the group as they made a beeline for the door.

* * *

The weather was getting cold and the entire countryside covered with a thin mist as the autumn season finally sets in. The group marched down the forest road in silence. The whole scenery was covered with autumn foliage. The fallen leaves from the trees along the roadside littered all over the ground. Thankfully, visibility was good enough and didn't prove to be too much of a problem for traveling that morning.

Naruto, who got a few good steps lead from the rest of the pack, involuntarily glanced to the left after Mikoshi sped up his pace a bit and ended up walking side by side with him.

The older boy, wearing a large, wide-brimmed straw hat just like Chitose, turned his head sharply after he noticed the blonde's gaze and snapped grumpily, "What do you want, scaredy cat?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes murderously at the boy that was his client. 'Dammit! This brat's totally disrespecting me. I'm going show my incredible skills and teach the bastard not to underestimate me.' The blonde resolved. Immediately, Naruto dashed forward and stopped after distancing himself a few meters ahead of the group. He then vigorously turned his head sideways, scanning the area for any threat. It didn't take long before he spotted something hiding behind the bushes. "There!" Naruto exclaimed, throwing a kunai at the low-lying shrubs.

The two clients, Mikoshi and Chitose, were greatly surprised by the young ninja's actions. Itachi, on the other hand, showed no signs of sudden emotion, maintaining his relative calmness while a thick silence filled the air.

"Heh. Just a rat." The blonde said, trying to sound and act cool. His were eyes closed while his hand adjusted needlessly the blue hite-ate tied around his forehead.

"Stop showing off!! There was nothing in there, you super idiot!!" Mikoshi screamed aloud, his body shaking in fits of anger.

"Please, Naruto-kun. Don't use your weapons so recklessly. It's really dangerous and someone might get hurt," pleaded Chitose.

"Yeah!" Mikoshi seconded. "Don't scare us like that, moron!!"

"Naruto-kun! Look out!"

Chitose's cry made Naruto open his eyes and to his horror, more than a dozen shurikens were all flying straight towards him. With no time left to react, Naruto could only brace himself for what was coming. However, before the weapons could make contact Itachi suddenly appeared right in front of him, armed with a kunai, and knocked the shurikens away all within a short fraction of a second. Successive faint thuds sounded as the shurikens landed harmlessly on the ground next to the jounin's feet.

"I-Itachi-sensei…" was all Naruto could mutter after witnessing the feat that saved his life.

'The target.'

'The target.'

'The target.'

Nine figures suddenly leaped out of their hiding places, from the behind the high leaves of the tall trees and the low-lying roadside bushes, and rained down towards Mikoshi and Chitose who were left behind, virtually unprotected. The diversion had worked perfectly.

Itachi vanished from his place in front Naruto and reappeared before the clients in a burst of godlike speed, something that the attackers hadn't expected. The next thing that followed, nine bodies fell lifeless on the ground. The pungent smell wafted as the surrounding was smeared with fresh blood. Every single enemy shinobi decimated before any of them could lay their finger on the boy or the woman.

After the initial shock had lifted over, Naruto, Mikoshi and Chitose all heaved sighs of relief.

"We're saved," thanked Mikoshi.

"Are you alright, young master?" Chitose asked, moving over to Mikoshi and examining him for injuries he might have incurred from the attack.

"No. I'm fine."

"WOW! Itachi-sensei, that was so cool!" Naruto exclaimed.

Itachi, however, didn't lower his guard even after the apparent victory. A foreboding sensation made him uneasy. 'Someone is still lurking about.' The young jounin turned his head, eyes focused on a particular tree. 'There.'

"I see. So I got noticed." The hidden shinobi grabbed the long hilt of the sword hanging on his back when he saw that Itachi was looking in his direction. "Heh. This is going to be fun."

"Everyone, get down!" Itachi ordered. Everyone quickly did as told when they noticed the large blade spinning in the air flying towards them.

The giant sword passed harmlessly overhead and continued flying forward before a hand grabbed it perfectly on the hilt stopping its flight. The group finally looked up and saw a tall, muscular man standing on top of the surface of a nearby river. The caught sword now placed over his back. White cloth wrapped like a mask covered the lower part of his head leaving only the pair of narrowed, glaring eyes from his face visible.

"That's…" Chitose gasped audibly.

'Someone's here!' Naruto shifted his head slightly, glancing on Mikoshi and Chitose behind. 'This time I'll handle the situation. I'll show everyone what I'm capable of!'

"I'm impressed at how efficiently you took care of my men." The Mist shinobi stated. "It seems the humors about the famed sharingan user are true after all."

"You!" Chitose cried aloud, pointing at the dangerous shinobi. "You're the nukenin from the Hidden Mist Village, Momochi Zabuza!"

'Nukenin? What's that?' Naruto asked mentally, obviously having no idea about it whatsoever.

"It's good to see you again," Zabuza turned his gaze towards the woman. "Kamishimo Idaho."

'Idaho?' Naruto glanced over towards the mild-mannered woman. Chitose had dropped her perpetual care-free smile and was replaced with a clear expression of resentment over the Mist shinobi. 'That no-eyebrow freak called Chitose-neechan Idaho? This is getting really confusing.' Naruto thought, the bewildered look on his face growing worse. 'Who cares, I need to…' Naruto cast all the confusing thoughts aside and eagerly readied himself. 'On your mark…GO!' The boy broke in a dash but immediately when Itachi raised his arm sideways blocking his path.

"Stay back. You're in the way." Itachi said stonily.

"Why?!" Naruto protested.

"This guy is on a different level. Against him, you won't stand a chance." Itachi said while keeping his eyes focused at the lone enemy.

"The so called prodigy of that genius Uchiha Clan, the man hailed as Konohagakure's number one technician, Uchiha Itachi." Zabuza moved his gaze back at the sixteen-year-old Leaf jounin. "I've heard so much about you. I'm sorry to cut this short but…" He said shooting his eyes away. "…the prince is mine."

Naruto followed Zabuza's gaze which lead him straight to his grumpy client. "Mikoshi is a prince?! What kind of crap is that?!" He asked aloud in sheer disbelief. "Besides, you don't look like a prince at all." The blonde commented eyes narrowed at Mikoshi.

"S-shut up, idiot!" Mikoshi, flustered and all, roared indignantly at Naruto.

"That is correct." Zabuza said with a slight nod. "That boy is Kanamori Ryuji, the only son and heir apparent of the Water Country's daimyo Kanamori Sanno. About three weeks ago, the prince together with his aide, Kamishimo Idaho, run away from the palace. With the rift forming among the country's leaders over the Alliance Treaty and the persistent rumors of a coup d'etat, the palace immediately sought to cover up the prince's disappearance fearing that this could stir up the already charged political atmosphere. Kirigakure shinobis were then secretly dispatched to look for the prince."

"I don't understand. You're a shinobi from the Hidden Mist Village, right?" Naruto asked, eyeing the insignia etched unto the metal plate on the tilted hite-ate around the man's forehead. "Then why do you want to kill Mikoshi? Aren't you supposed to protect him? What's going on here?"

Zabuza blinked after hearing the blonde's question. However, instead of answering he just broke with hysterical laughter.

Naruto seethed angrily at the rude response and shouted, "Hey! What are you laughing at you no-eyebrow freak?!"

"Weren't you listening earlier, smartass." Mikoshi said irritably. "He's a nukenin, meaning he's already abandoned his village. He's no longer part of the Hidden Mist. He's a fugitive, a criminal, an enemy of his own village and the Water Country."

"That's right." Zabuza affirmed. "However, my mission is not to kill the prince. It was merely to capture him. He will be a great tool for our cause. Disposing someone like him would be a huge waste."

"Tool?" Naruto muttered.

"The two went into the Fire Country in disguise. They even used fake names, Takayama Mikoshi and Kurisawa Chitose , to hide their true identities. Thanks to our spy within Konoha, we were able to find out this information and immediately set out to track them down." Zabuza beadily eyed the two Leaf shinobis. "'We are simple tourists trying to get back home', I don't know if your hokage actually bought this alibi or is just playing politics. But hiding the fact from the Mist and the Water's government makes one thing certain…" The Mist shinobi continued in a purely insolent tone, "…he is a stupid old man."

"You…!!" Naruto rushed forward driven by anger towards the Mist shinobi. His fists clenched tightly, intended for the smug man's face.

"Stop it." Itachi said, calmly grabbing the collar of his jacket.

"Let go, Itachi-sensei! I won't forgive that no-eyebrows for insulting Hokage-jiichan!" Naruto rammed his right fist forcefully at his own left palm. The look on his face showed nothing but resentment and disdain. "I'll beat his sorry face to a pulp!"

Zabuza merely chuckled at the kid's outburst. "A punch to the face is it, eh? Can you really do it, boy?" He specifically meant that last sentence as a challenge. The gesture was backed by his eyes and the tone of voice which only betrayed his full seriousness.

"There seems to be no other alternative in this situation." Itachi interjected, stepping forward narrowing his eyes at Zabuza. "Naruto-kun, protect the clients. Whatever happens, do not interfere with the battle." He instructed without taking a glance back at his student. A heavy feeling suddenly floated through the air catching Zabuza's attention. When the missing-nin looked back, the Uchiha heir's eyes were no longer black but instead were colored blood red. Three dots shaped like commas marked inside each of his pupils. "Let's begin."

"Ah. I get to see the famous sharingan. I'm honored. Since you're eager, let's cut all these chit-chatting. I need to get my hands on that boy right away." Zabuza glanced behind Itachi and noticed Mikoshi and Chitose moving closer to each other forming a tight group with Naruto standing at the front, kunai in hand and at the ready. Noting this, he returned his gaze back at the young Leaf jounin. "But, Itachi, it seems I have to defeat you first." Zabuza then raised his left arm upwards while his right formed a half seal and released a huge amount of chakra, large enough that the water was waving wildly underneath his feet. "Ninpou Kirigakure no Jutsu."

Itachi narrowed his eyes when the fog got thicker as a result of the jutsu, concealing its caster out of sight.

"He disappeared!" exclaimed Naruto.

'This is bad!' "Itachi-san, please be careful!" Chitose shouted aloud with a sense of urgency, warning the young jounin of the enemy's caliber. "Momochi Zabuza was once in Kirigakure's Assassination Squad and was known as a master of the art of silent killing! If you don't get careful, you'll get killed!"

"Silent killing?" Naruto asked.

"Silent killing, it's a killing technique that's executed in a flash and carried out in absolute silence." Chitose explained satisfying Naruto's curiosity. "It is even possible that you'll be dead before you know it."

Naruto gulped aloud after hearing this. A second later and he also lost sight of the Uchiha. Soon the mist became worst enough that visibility was reduced down to near zero.

'Tsk. This might actually get dangerous.' Itachi thought to himself.

"You are one impressive fellow, Uchiha Itachi." Everyone could hear Zabuza's voice speak from within the white blanket of fog.

Behind, Naruto, Mikoshi and Chitose felt a terrible feeling of tension. Knowing the knowledge that someone dangerous was lurking about, unseen, undetectable, and that they are most probably powerless once he decides to strike. Itachi, his sharingan unable to see through the thick mist and thus rendered virtually useless, maintained focus and tried to blindly feel the enemy's presence.

"At the early age of thirteen, you were already listed as an A-ranked shinobi in the bingo book."

"Bingo book? What's that?" Naruto asked.

"Bingo book," Chitose began, "It is a listing which includes the names of all the high-profile shinobis in the world. There, shinobis are divided based not on their actually ranks, loyalties, or the hidden village or country of affiliation but instead from their actual power and combat capabilities. In that sense, it is possible for a chuunin or even a genin to be ranked higher that a jounin provided that he is proven to be more powerful than the later."

"I see…"

"The bingo book ranks the power of a shinobi as either S, A, B-class," she continued. "There also exists lower ranks C, D and E but shinobis belonging to these classes don't appear in the bingo book"

Naruto's face suddenly beamed with excitement, something which both Chitose and Mikoshi found to be totally out of place considering the current situation. "I wanna have my name written in the bingo book too."

"I've been eagerly waiting for the chance to face you. Please don't disappoint me. It's been a while since I had some fun," bragged an unseen Zabuza.

Itachi performed a hand seal, releasing ample amounts of chakra to repel the mist. Although the mist was still too thick for him to see through, the move had somehow provided him with visibility at most around couple of feet's distance.

'What an incredibly dangerous ki.' Chitose thought shaken by the sudden feeling that rushed through her senses. 'That boy really is on a different degree.'

Sensing something fast approaching, Itachi readied his kunai and blocked a series of shurikens that got dangerously close.

"You dodged quite nicely. Something I was quite expecting from you, Itachi."

Itachi was surprised when he felt Zabuza suddenly appear behind back. He quickly ducked low dodging just in time the swing from the massive Kubikiri Hosho. Itachi countered with an upward slash from his kunai but to his disappointment, the Zabuza before him erupted as a harmless mass of water. "A bunshin…?" The Uchiha silently resumed his defensive position waiting for the next attack.

'It's true then. The sharingan endows the person who possesses it with an eye of insight and an eye of hypnosis. The eye of insight allows him to see through genjutsu, taijutsu and ninjutsu and cancel their effects but the scariest part is that it can copy a jutsu once it sees it. The eye of hypnosis allows him to cast very powerful genjutsu on the enemies manipulating the mind and making them act and think as he deems fit.' Zabuza smiled inwardly. 'Thanks a lot, Mizuki, for this valuable information. Because of your work we were able to create a counter for the sharingan.'

Itachi instinctively jumped sideways avoiding another slash from Zabuza's sword. Seeing that he'd missed, Zabuza quickly rushed forward to deliver another slash at the young Uchiha. As soon as Itachi's foot hit the ground, he propelled himself forward to meet Zabuza. An exchange of strikes followed and the Zabuza that Itachi struck once again turned into water. Suddenly, a kunai flew out of the mist. Itachi quickly moved to the left and the kunai passed by him harmlessly. However, in its wake, a few strands from his long black hair floated slowly down until it touched ground.

Another Zabuza reappeared before Itachi, this one he noticed had its eyes closed, and launched his sword down at him. Itachi took a sudden backslide that the massive blade missed him. The Leaf jounin wasn't able to throw in a counter since Zabuza had retreated back into the mist right after he attacked. A second later and a long cut appeared against the fabric of his black shirt. 'This guy is good,' thought Itachi maintaining his calm. He then lowered himself back into a defensive stance.

'First, I conceal in this heavy fog and render his eye of insight useless. Then, I close my eyes and kill the possibility that he will use the eye of hypnosis in close combat.' Zabuza, in a sudden burst of speed, raced away from his position and launched a head on attack against the Leaf shinobi. Itachi, sensing the attack, took a quick step back to dodge the huge blade. However, his movements were too slow that the Kubiri Honsho still managed to cleave his body in half. 'This is the end.' Zabuza said confidently, slowly opening his eyes. 'What?!' His eyes suddenly grew wide when to his surprise, the struck down body of Itachi turned into water. 'Mizubunshin no Justu? Since when did he…?'

"As I suspected, you are the real one."

Zabuza need not turn around for he perfectly knew that Itachi was already behind him.

"This is the end." Itachi said thrusting his kunai forward aiming to impale Zabuza at the back of the head. However, before he could do with his lethal intention, a chain suddenly shot from his blind side and wrapped itself around him constricting his movements. "What the–?" He exclaimed in surprise.

Zabuza smirked smugly from underneath his mask. With the end of his sword still stuck on the ground, Zabuza quickly spun around and landed a sharp kick against Itachi's face sending the young jounin flying in the air. "Now…!" Zabuza grabbed the hilt of his sword with both hands and dragged the Kubikiri Honsho as he raced forward aiming to deliver the finishing blow.

'…' Itachi, still tied-up whilst flying in mid-air, moved his hand to sever the chain with his kunai loosening its hold on his body. He then twisted his body so that he'd land with his feet up completely free from any constrictions. With the momentum from that kick still causing him to slide against the surface of the water, Itachi quickly performed a set of hand seals before launching a massive fire ball attack at the shadowy silhouette of the pursuing ninja. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Justu!!"

'That was fast!' Zabuza, surprised at the sudden fire elemental attack, didn't have enough time to move away and was completely engulfed by the flames.

"Did I get him?" Itachi whispered to himself as he watched the faint flickering of light from the fire burning a few yards behind the mist blocking his eyes.

"No."

That reply came to Itachi as something totally unexpected. Zabuza had suddenly appeared right behind him, already performing a set of hand seals.

"Suirui no Jutsu!" Zabuza announced as the water underneath Itachi quickly rose up becoming a spherical water containment that trapped the young jounin helplessly inside. "I finally caught you, Uchiha Itachi."

Itachi, with his current predicament, could only move his head and shoot a defiant glare at his captor.

"You entertained me to an extent though. But let me tell you one thing I learned from this battle..." Zabuza said glancing sidewards.

The mist slowly cleared back to how it naturally was earlier before the battle started.

"Has he done it?" Mikoshi asked himself. He, Naruto and Chitose had been silently rooting for Itachi to come out victorious however what they saw when the veil of mist had lifted was not something of their expectations.

On the ground several yards from them lies a smoldering piece of log still smoking from the sides while further up into the river stood Zabuza, his right arm extended sideways stuck in a spherical mass of water, together with a trapped Itachi.

"The Uchiha Clan is overrated."


	11. Chapter 11: Realization and Strength

Rants: Just wanna you all a belated Happy New Year. This chapter wasorignally planned to be postedout sometime before New Year.Sadly, because of unforeseen circumstances it wasn't able to come out on time. Also, I'm desperately in need of a beta reader. If anyone can spare the time (and patience), please do e-mail me. I would really appreciate it.

* * *

"How do you like it, Itachi? This is my inescapable special prison. Comfortable I hope."

The mist slowly cleared revealing a smoldering piece of log several paces from Naruto, Mikoshi and Chitose while further up into the river stood Zabuza, his right arm extended sideways stuck in a spherical mass of water, together with a trapped Itachi.

"I-Itachi-sensei!" Naruto called out.

'Th-this isn't good!' was the thought that raced through Chitose after she saw the outcome of the battle. "Naruto-kun, we should run away now!"

"What are you talking about?! Itachi-sensei is still trapped in there! Are you saying that we should just abandon him?!" Naruto shouted at the girl, clearly in disbelief at what she is making him do.

"We don't have any other choice!" Chitose argued back. "Zabuza won't be able to move as long as he has Itachi-san trapped inside his Suirui no Jutsu! This is the perfect opportunity for us! Also, even if you go fight him it will all be the same! You'll just get beaten! Com'on, let's get out of here while we still can!"

"How can you arrive to a conclusion like that?! You haven't even seen me fight against that no-eyebrows and yet you talk as if you already know what's going to happen!" Naruto yelled.

"Look closely at reality! If you go fight him you'll only end up dead!" Chitose yelled even louder. The intensity of her voice overpowered Naruto forcing him shut his mouth up. "Even Itachi-san was defeated! Do you honestly think that you can win against a monster like that?!"

"But… But…" Naruto seethed angrily, clenching his fists as he watched the nukenin Zabuza lay captive of his sensei. Once again, the image of Itachi looking down at him with eyes full of a mixed feeling of sadness and frustration flashed through his mind.

'"Naruto-kun… I'm disappointed with you."'

'I still couldn't do anything…' the blond thought. His eyes closed tight, his body shaking as an intense feeling of frustration raced through him. He clenched his fists even tighter that his nails have started to bite against his skin.

"Besides, this fight was over the moment Itachi-san was caught! Don't forget about your mission! The most important thing right now is to ensure Ryuji-sama's safety! As a ninja, your mission should be placed above everything else!"

Naruto heard Chitose exclaim from the background but he gave her words no heed.

"Naruto-kun…"

Naruto abruptly opened his eyes and glanced over at Itachi. It wasn't just him. Mikoshi, Chitose, even Zabuza's attention were all caught when the young and usually silent jounin spoke.

"Idaho-san is right. You're a ninja. The success of the mission must be your top priority. Stop worrying about me. Take the clients and get out of here." Itachi stared stonily at Naruto, the expression on his face showed nothing but seriousness. "That is an order."

Naruto shut his eyes once more and started shaking his head wildly; unwilling listen to what the people around him are making him to do. Even Itachi-sensei wanted him to run away. Just then, memories of his jounin instructor flashed before him.

'"I'm going to teach you a special jutsu that will let you pass the Academy exam."

Naruto opened the classroom and found the new jounin sensei already inside. "You're late." The Itachi said turning his head towards the boy.

Itachi cast a dissatisfied look down on Naruto . "You are pathetic. You should just quit now."

"Back at the training field, did you feel afraid?"

"I know it was just a test and that Itachi-sensei is a kind person…" Naruto slurped the ramen broth noisily before continuing. "…because Itachi-sensei's eyes were different from the others'."

A small smile etched over Itachi's lips.'

"NO!!" Naruto flung his eyes wide open and broke in a mad dash towards Zabuza. "I won't run away!" The blonde had barely covered half the distance when he felt something hit him forcibly throwing him back and causing him to roll like a broken rag doll along the ground. With his body finally coming to a stop, Naruto pulled himself up to a sitting position and noticed three long gashes that ran along the mid and lower sections of his body.

"Running around… screaming… trying to act all brave and tough… Don't think highly of yourself just because you have a hite-ate."

Naruto moved his gaze up and saw the silhouette of a man slowly taking form from behind the fog.

"Ninja refers to someone who has survived numerous brushes with death. In other words, only when you're good enough to appear in the bingo book can you start calling yourself a ninja."

Finally, the veil of mist finally lifted away revealing the shadow to be a shinobi with a black cloak wrapped around his body. He had something like a gas mask covering most of his face and on his right arm was a large clawed metal gauntlet. "You're…" Naruto muttered, recognizing the person to be one who attacked them before when they were still at the Fire Country.

"You're not a ninja. You're just a brat."

"That was harsh Gouzu," said Zabuza.

"Naruto-kun!" Chitose called urgently. "What are you waiting for?! Run!"

"But can you really do that, Idaho?" Zabuza said as he watched the panicking young lady. "Of course there is something you can do about it but…" The Mist nukenin turned his sights towards the teen standing right next to her. "Are you willing to break the vow that you've made just for the sake of that boy, even if he is the son of the daimyo?"

Scenes from her past flashed before Chitose. She turned at the all important boy and everyone could see the confusion forming in her face. In the end, she could not bring herself say anything back and just contented herself to gritting her teeth and glaring reproachfully at Zabuza.

"It's okay, 'neesan."

Surprised, Chitose shifted her head sharply and saw Mikoshi taking steps forward.

"Since the time Itachi-san got caught, running away was no longer an option. Even if we were to make a run for it, Zabuza would've caught up with us sooner or later. And now, with the appearance of another nukenin, that had just become completely impossible." Mikoshi stopped next to Naruto. He glanced down at Naruto and his lips suddenly curled to a smile. The gesture that made the blonde blink twice to assure if it were true or not as this will be the first time he gets to see his grumpy client smile so openly at him. Mikoshi then stared back at Zabuza once more, his face now turning all serious. "Let's have a bet, Zabuza."

"Oh? And what would that be?" Zabuza asked, his interest obviously perked up.

"I'm betting my fate and my life into Naruto. If he loses against that man of yours…" Mikoshi raised his hand and pointed directly at Gouzu. "…then I'll give myself up."

"Ryuji-sama?! What are you doing?!" cried Chitose.

"Hmm… sounds interesting," mused Zabuza. "But what if you win?"

"If I win, then you'll just have to free that guy. That's all." The boy continued, mentioning the person trapped in the water prison.

Zabuza raised an eyebrow at the idea.

"I'm not asking you leave us alone, just free Itachi-san. You can immediately come after me as soon as he's released. Either way, things are still in your favor." Mikoshi followed with a shrug. "A good bargain don't you think?"

Zabuza turned his eyes from Mikoshi down to the orange clad boy sitting on the ground next to him. "So you're saying that you're going to put your life at the hands of this kid. Shouldn't you think this over, young master?" The Mist shinobi said in mock politeness as he diverted his attention back to the prince. "There is no way a punk like that could beat ever Gouzu. Such a bet will only end in your loss." Zabuza then let out a confident grin from underneath his mask. "But if you are so desperate…"

"Hmph! An idiot like you will never understand." Mikoshi interjected.

"What did you say?!"

"He isn't just the punk that you think he is." Mikoshi threw his narrowed eyes sideways towards Naruto. "Although he may certainly look like one…"

"Why you–?!" Naruto growled angrily at the nasty comment.

"Naruto won't lose; let me make that point clear." Mikoshi declared. "He is a person who has courage, determination and strength, a strong person with an iron will, a man who will not back down to any challenge." The prince continued, his features beaming with confidence and pride.

"Mikoshi…" Naruto muttered, glancing up to the older boy. He was still in disbelief that the boy who had been mocking him for most of the trip, someone whom he thought didn't like and perhaps hated him, had actually acknowledged him and believed in his strength.

"He is an elite ninja and I completely believe in him!"

"Hmph!" Naruto sounded, pulling himself back on his feet. He raised his head and stared at the enemies with his usual cockiness back in place. "You heard what the idiot said. Are you ready?!"

Zabuza suddenly broke into hysterical laughter causing much to everybody's confusion. "Very well… Gouzu!" Zabuza, suddenly turning all serious, called out. "Kill the brat."

"Understood." Gouzu immediately rushed forward and launched his clawed right hand, fingers joined and extended, towards Naruto. The blonde tried to dodge by the lowering his body but the sharp claws still managed to graze against his shoulder making Naruto flinch in pain. Gouzu then followed with a sharp kick sending the kid flying until his back crashed painfully against the sturdy trunk of a tree a couple of yards back.

"Damn it." Naruto cursed. He pulled himself back on his feet and performed the seals of his favorite jutsu. "Kagebunshin no Jutsu!!" A massive cloud of white smoke erupted which when cleared revealed about a hundred shadow clones.

"Oh, kagebunshin. And he created quite a few." Zabuza said, sounding quite impressed.

"Everyone, let's go!" Naruto commanded to his clones. Each one of them pulled out several pieces of shuriken and threw them straight towards the Mist chuunin.

"You sure don't learn, do you?" A long chain emerged from Gouzu's metal arm. Quickly, he made it spin very rapidly to block the black cloud of incoming shurikens. Seeing that their collective attacks have failed, the mass of Narutos all charged towards Gouzu. The Mist chuunin stopped twirling his chain and lashed it against the mob taking out at least seven clones in one strike.

"Still playing Ninja?" In a clever combination of perfectly timed retraction and extension of the chain together with some graceful arm movements, Gouzu made the chain appear to have a life and a mind of its own. Slithering through the battlefield like a deadly metal snake, the chain ripped through the mass of Naruto clones decimating each one that it so unfortunately touch out of existence.

"A real ninja is someone whose hands are already soaked in blood. A person who has gone through the experience of killing another…" Soon all the clones had been dispelled and all that remained was the real Naruto. Gouzu retracted the full length of the chain back into his gauntlet and dashed forward to engage the blonde head on. The strength of the blow he released knocked Naruto down into the ground. Three new slash wounds appeared across his chest. "You're no ninja."

"Naruto-kun!" Chitose cried worriedly.

Gouzu planted his foot straight into Naruto's stomach and started applying pressure on it making the boy cringe in pain. "Just trash."

"Naruto!" called Mikoshi.

"Don't you see, young master, that this is all your fault." Zabuza said aloud. "All of these things are happening because of you."

Mikoshi was speechless. All that he could do was clench his fists at being so powerless to help Naruto. Meanwhile, a few paces behind, Chitose and had flung her head sideways, her eyes closed. She couldn't bear to watch the boy suffer in the hands of Zabuza's man.

"If you have just stayed put inside your castle. If you have stayed like the pampered spoiled brat you are then none of this would have happened. The Alliance Treaty, the relationship with the Fire and Konoha would not have been jeopardized. None of us would have gone after your tail. Most importantly, both you and your aide's lives and the lives of these Leaf shinobis wouldn't have been placed in grave danger."

"I have my reasons…" Mikoshi lowered his head as he spoke.

"Figures. All you nobles think about are yourselves." Zabuza shifted his head and stared down at the blonde. "Foolishly putting your fate in the hands of this scrap, you shouldn't have goaded him into fighting. Now that boy is going to die and your conscience will bear the guilt of it."

Gouzu landed another sharp kick on Naruto's midsection making the blonde expel blood off his mouth.

"Naruto!" Mikoshi cried again. 'I have to do something! If not, if not then Naruto will die!'

'It's so painful…' Naruto desperately hang on to consciousness as the unpleasant sensation consumed his entire being. Suddenly, against the all suffering and hopelessness, Naruto once again saw himself several days back and how he raised his kunai that time and stabbed the wound on his left hand. '"I swear it to the pain in my left arm…"'

"Zabuza…"

"Hmm?" The missing-nin glanced down to his captive and found Itachi, as odd as it may seem, to have remained fully calm and collected, completely unfazed by the pained screams and the torturous beating inflicted upon his pupil.

"Do not underestimate him. Naruto-kun isn't one to die so easily."

'Pain…?' Naruto asked himself. Suddenly he recalled the vows he had made, when he made them, where he made them and how he made them. 'I'm not going to need saving ever again… I'm not going to be afraid and try to run away… If I give up, my dreams and everything that I lived for will be gone… '

"Itachi, has your Sharingan become too fogged that you fail to see what was happening before you? Let me tell you this much. Gouzu is the other half of the famed Demon Brothers of the Mist, the elite pair of ninjas who have done several high profile assassinations and were ranked B in the bingo book. If he's up to it, Gouzu could slit that kid's neck off in seconds and even if Gouzu were to show mercy and choose not to kill him, the poison in his claws has already invaded the brat's body and will soon take effect. Either way, the outcome is still the same…" Zabuza continued his voice laced with venom. "…that boy is going to die, I'll guarantee you that."

Itachi met Zabuza's eyes with a hard stare. "He is Uzumaki Naruto, Yondaime Hokage-sama's legacy. He won't die."

The two jounins exchanged glares with each other, something that lasted only for a few seconds but almost felt like an eternity. It was only when they heard the prince called out that they both pulled their heads away and turned at the important kid.

"Alright Zabuza, you win!"

"Ryuji-sama!" pleaded Chitose.

'There's no other choice. I have to do this.' The boy thought desperately. "I'm giving myself up! Now stop all these senseless fighting and let Naruto and the others go!"

"I am terribly sorry young master, but I don't think I can comply with that request."

"What do you mean?"

Zabuza turned towards his subordinate and nodded.

Catching Zabuza's instruction, Gouzu lifted his foot up. "Die!!" He screamed aloud, raining his foot with lethal force down towards Naruto.

"NO!!!" cried Mikoshi.

A moment's silence wafted through the air. Everyone was speechless, surprised when they saw that the Mist chuunin's foot had been caught by Naruto.

'I will never regret what I do…'

Gouzu saw the boy looking defiantly back at him. That gesture made his nerves throb in anger prompting the chuunin to raise his foot yet again. This time however, when he dropped it, his foot smashed nothing but the solid ground. Gouzu immediately went to scan the area for Naruto's whereabouts but when he raised his head he was greeted with a hard fist right into the face. 'Too fast…' Gouzu tumbled across the field after receiving the full force of Naruto's punch.

'I will never look back…'

"Naruto-kun!" both Chitose and Mikoshi were thoroughly delighted to see that the blonde kid was alright.

"That's right… I became a ninja." Naruto whispered to himself, his heart ablaze with new found determination.

'That brat!' Gouzu seethed silently, pulling himself off the ground as soon as all his momentum had been spent.

"I'll save Itachi-sensei and fulfill my mission." Naruto muttered silently. He then raised his arm, pointed it straight at Gouzu and Zabuza and called aloud, "Hey, the idiots over there. Put this in your bingo book." The blonde took in a lungful of breath. "The man who will one day become Hokage…" Naruto adjusted his hite-ate back into place and launched a defiant glare at the Mist shinobis.

'I will never take back my words…'

"…the one who doesn't go back on his words…"

'That is my nindo!'

"I am Uzumaki Naruto! Remember it!"

"Naruto-kun…" Chitose sounded. The tone of her voice and the light blush on her face showed her growing regard for the boy.

"Go get 'em, Naruto!" Mikoshi cheered aloud.

'Now Naruto-kun, cast your doubts and fears aside and realize for yourself how much you have truly grown.' Itachi nodded in approval, silently rooting for his student from inside his water prison.

"Kagebushin no Jutsu!!" Naruto exclaimed, executing the technique for the second time around. This time he only created four shadow clones, a far lesser amount compared to those he created earlier.

"Hah, that won't help you." Gouzu huffed, sounding thoroughly confident. "It doesn't matter how many bodies you create. That still won't be enough to defeat me."

A sly grin appeared over the real Naruto's lips. "Try me."

Before Gouzu could even blink, Naruto and his clones disappeared before his eyes. The next thing he knew, both his feet were lifted several inches off the ground after receiving a sharp upward kick against the jaw from Naruto who suddenly appeared right in front of him. A second Naruto then jumped from behind the first one and landed a powerful punch to the face of the airborne Gouzu sending him crashing to the ground several yards back.

'How did he…' While sliding, Gouzu planted his arm unto the ground and hoisted himself up, landing firmly on his feet after performing some quick midair pirouette. Two more Narutos suddenly appeared on both sides of him and threw a kick each aiming for his face. Gouzu immediately raised both his arms and blocked the attack. However, to his surprise the fifth Naruto appeared in a burst of speed before him. The boy, crouching down low, then threw fist forcefully down his gut causing the chuunin to momentarily lose breath. The two Narutos hanging above spun clockwise and counterclockwise respectively and followed by placing their heels against Gouzu's masked face sending him tumbling along the ground once more.

Slightly dizzied by the combo, Gouzu gingerly pulled himself back up and noticed that the five Narutos have surrounded him. There sounded a loud crack before the broken gas mask fell right off his face revealing for the first time the Mist chuunin's full features. A small stream of blood was found on the side of his mouth.

'…become so strong…' Gouzu felt a punch on the abdomen which was quickly followed by another blow on his back. The five Narutos appeared to him as orange blurs, streaking so fast that he could barely follow them with his eyes let alone defend himself from the attacks. '…so suddenly…' Another fist crashed straight down his right cheek while a kick landed on his left side. Finally, the real Naruto finished up with a powerful kick throwing the missing-nin high up into the air leaving him to crash down with his back colliding painfully against the hard ground.

"Hmph! How's that?" The five Naruto bodies asked all at the same time as they watched the other half of the infamous Demon Brothers of the Mist pull his badly beaten body back on its feet.

"YOU BRAT!!! Now you've really done it!" A raging Gouzu screamed. Executing a hand seal, a mass of water slowly rose up from the small puddle a few steps to his left. Seconds later and it became a full replica of the chuunin. "I'm going to kill you."

Unfazed, Naruto along with every single one of his shadow clones cracked their knuckles and said simultaneously, "Bring it on!" He said those words in a fully confident manner that it sent to fuel the proud nukenin's already burning rage.

"Demon Brothers of the Mist's Master Technique: Renteitou Senjutsu!" Gouzu and his clone announced before dashing straight towards the orange clad blonde. Naruto, on the other hand, ordered his clones to engage the incoming pair. Gouzu and his water clone launched their armored arm forward taking out a Naruto clone apiece. The chuunin then shot his chain off his armored arm and lashed it towards one Naruto clone. The shadow clone easily evaded the incoming chain by moving quickly moving to his left.

"Hah! You missed!" gloated one of Naruto's clones.

The two Gouzus suddenly broke in a grin and to the clone's surprise another chain emerged from underneath the shadow of the first one and struck the clone right on the chest instantly turning him into a small puff of smoke.

'The Kage Kusari no Jutsu,' thought Zabuza.

The real Gouzu then maneuvered his chain back and made it struck the other charging Naruto clone from behind. His water clone disengaged the chain off his gauntlet and quickly moved to the right to catch the streaking metal cable. The chain landed perfectly into the other Gouzu's arm linking the two of them together. Both then rushed towards the last remaining Naruto, moving in perfect synch, very fluid much like that of a well choreographed dance. 'I'll finish him off now!' In a speedy maneuver, the two Gouzu's wrapped their chain around Naruto, locking the boy in an inescapable bind of death. "DIE!!!" They both screamed, activating the driving mechanisms in their arms ripping Naruto's body into pieces.

Mikoshi and Chitose were horrorstricken at the sight that flashed through their eyes.

"That's the end of him." Zabuza announced.

Itachi's lips suddenly curled in a grin.

"What the–?!" Both Zabuza and Gouzu exclaimed aloud. The next thing that happened came as a complete surprise. The mangled pieces of Naruto's body erupted into white smoke.

'Kagebunshin?!' Gouzu thought, still in shock. He failed to notice the shuriken that came out of nowhere and dragged his long chain towards a nearby tree. A kunai then followed, planting itself right into the shuriken's center hole nailing the chain tightly in place. Gouzu and his clone tried to advance forward but found themselves unable to do so. 'It won't come out!'

Next, Mist chuunin and his water clone saw several shurikens flying directly towards them. Quickly, they released the chain and used their now free metal arms to block the incoming shurikens. As the shurikens harmlessly bounced off the duo's armored arms, two Narutos emerged unnoticed from behind and launched sharp kicks on the back of their heads. The water clone was immediately dispersed while the real Gouzu was propelled several yards forward until he crashed face first into the ground.

Gouzu, though heavily shaken, still managed to push himself back up and turned towards the pair of Narutos standing paces away. One of the orange clad bodies had started performing a series of hand seals while the other remained at the ready.

'Th-that brat…!' He found it difficult to believe that a boy like that was really this strong. The mere thought that the boy, a rookie at that, could probably be stronger than he is went to fire up the chuunin's fury even more. "I'LL KILL YOU!!!" Gouzu screamed, charging forward attacking out of blind rage.

"Serpent, ram, horse, serpent, dragon…"

Gouzu has decided that he was going to attack the one performing the seals. It didn't take long before he reached where the brats were. However, just as he went to stab his claws down the real Naruto, the boy's clone came in blocking his path and caught the massive metal arm with his two hands.

"…rat, ox, tiger! Ninpou, Katon: Karyuu Endan no Jutsu!!" The real Naruto took in a deep breath and released a powerful stream of white flames. His shadow clone burst into smoke the moment the flames grazed its back while Gouzu, who was now left wide open to receive the full blast, was dragged away by the force of the escaping fire. For Gouzu, it felt like being helplessly carried along by a massive water current. The only difference was that this was fire and it was burning him alive as he went. His pained screams were masked by the sound of the roaring flames.

Out at the river, Zabuza's eyes grew wide in shock. It seems that Naruto had managed to witty place Gouzu and him along in a straight line and with him unable to move out of place, the onrushing flames will certainly take him too if he don't abandon the water prison. 'There's no choice then!' Zabuza pulled his right arm off the spherical mass of water and ducked out of the fire's way. Quickly, the nukenin rushed forward towards his primary target – the prince of the Water Country. Suddenly, Naruto appeared before Zabuza in a burst of speed that the Mist shinobi could have sworn to have almost rivaled that of Itachi's.

"Take this!" The blonde screamed ramming his fist against Mist shinobi's face.

Zabuza was knocked a few steps back after receiving the full blunt of the blow. "You damn kid!" Quickly recovering, Zabuza screamed in anger and went to grab his massive sword. He swung the huge blade down raining it upon Naruto's head with the intention of cleaving the boy in half. Just then, his blade was suddenly stopped by Itachi, the kunai currently grinding against the Kubikiri Honsho was being supported by both the young jounin's arms.

"Don't forget. I'm your opponent," said Itachi while narrowing those pair of blood red Sharingan eyes.


	12. Chapter 12: White Mask and Black Ravens

Rants: Hi! Yeah I know this chapter came way too late andI deeply apologize for the delay. It's just that I had this very nasty writer's block but at least I'm back on my track once again. On the lighter side, I would like to thank NefariousPhoenix for being so kind to beta for me. Thanks man your a real life saver. I owe you a lot!

* * *

"Don't forget. I'm your opponent." Itachi stood right between Zabuza and Naruto. Armed with his kunai, the young jounin blocked the massive Kubikiri Honsho preventing it from slicing his student in half.

Zabuza caught sight of Itachi's fiery Sharingan, the pair of red orbs that seemed to be able to peer deep within a person's soul. After seeing those eyes, the wanted missing-nin couldn't help but feel a tingle of trepidation surge through his body.

"Naruto-kun, you've disobeyed a direct order." Itachi said without glancing back at his student. His voice sounded cold and unforgiving.

Naruto's face fell. He knew perfectly well that although he did all that fighting to save his sensei from the Suirui no Jutsu, he still went against orders and unwittingly placed the lives of their clients in danger. 'The success of the mission must be placed above everything else.' This is one of the many doctrines of a shinobi that Itachi-sensei constantly reminded him of before they began any of their past missions. If things had gotten worst, he along with Chitose-neesan and Mikoshi might have all ended up being killed and the blame would have been stacked against him. However, he also couldn't bring himself to leave Itachi-sensei behind,and for that he felt absolutely no regret for his actions.

"However…" Itachi continued. "I am very pleased with you."

A wide smile spread across Naruto's face as the boy beamed with pride.

"Go and secure the clients." Itachi ordered whilst keeping his kunai locked against Zabuza's huge blade.

"Yes sir!" Naruto exclaimed, right hand raised in a salute. He then quickly raced away from the clashing jounins and went to stand guard for the clients. With Gouzu nowhere in sight and Zabuza being engaged head on by Itachi-sensei, Naruto was able to relax his defenses a bit though not so low that it would allow enemies, if there were still some lurking about, to catch him off guard.

"Naruto-kun!" Chitose called out, rounding the boy up as soon as he came within arms reach and began a quick visual examination checking the boy up for injuries that he might had taken during his earlier fight with the Mist chuunin. Apparently satisfied with Naruto's condition, the young lady then placed a small vial in the blonde's hand. "Hurry up and drink this. This antidote should counteract the poison from Gouzu's claws."

"Arigatou Chitose-neechan."

"Hey Naruto."

The blonde genin turned to see Mikoshi. The son of the Water Country's daimyo seemed very uneasy and appeared like he was having trouble weaving words. From the short time Naruto got to know the boy, he already knew him to be a strong willed person, someone who was not afraid of speaking what was on his mind so this sort of behavior kinda struck him as odd.

"You know… those words I said about you earlier…" Mikoshi turned his head away, unwilling to face Naruto. "Those were all just lies. I still think that you are an unreliable, incompetent, and a completely stupid idiot."

"Hah! Same goes here!" Naruto huffed, also flinging his head sharply in the opposite direction. "I didn't fight that chain idiot and the no-eyebrow freak to save your ass. I only did so to free Itachi-sensei. Why should I care if they skin your behind? Don't play yourself as someone super important, moron!"

Both didn't utter a single word after that but it didn't take long before Naruto's mask of fake loathing crumbled into a smile and despite not seeing the other boy's face he knew perfectly that Mikoshi was also doing the same. The mutual silence attested to the strong bond of friendship that had formed between the two.

"Naruto-kun," Chitose interrupted, catching the boys' attentions. "You better hurry up and drink that antidote or else…" Her voice suddenly sounded grim. "…you're going to die."

"WHAT! Why didn't you say so!" screamed the frightened Naruto.

Chitose chuckled in amusement as she watched the panicking ball of energy obediently drink the contents of the medicine bottle in one large gulp. 'The poison on Gouzu's claws was actually of a very potent type, one that quickly spreads across the body and causes weakness, disorientation, and death all within minutes after being injected into the victim's bloodstream.'

Naruto's face turned all purple and reflexively spat the nasty medicine off his mouth. "YUCK! This tastes awful!" He said, gagging away from the disgusting aftertaste.

'The poison had been injected as early on when Gouzu first scraped Naruto-kun's body.' She continued, recalling how Naruto had been forcibly thrown back by the unanticipated attack when he first went to charge towards Zabuza. Three long gashes had appeared along the mid and lower sections of his body. 'If it were any other person, they would have been dead halfway into the fight. However, this boy is different. His body's unnaturally fast healing rate and resistance is definitely not normal.'

"Look at what you did, you idiot! You're supposed to put that thing down your gut, not stuff it on my face!" An extremely furious Mikoshi yelled. His face was drench with a disgusting mix of antidote and saliva after the blonde unintentionally sprayed it on him in his hurry to relieve his mouth free of the revolting liquid.

"Shut up bastard! It's your fault for getting that ugly face of yours in the way." Naruto yelled back.

"Why you little…!"

'Naruto-kun…' The young woman's lips curled into a light smile. 'What a strange yet interesting boy you are.'

Back on the battlefield, Zabuza staggered backwards after Itachi landed his fist squarely against his cheek. It didn't take long before the missing-nin recovered his bearing and immediately returned to a battle-ready stance.

A few paces away, Itachi remained standing in a completely relaxed and confident manner; both arms lying flat against his sides while his face maintained the same emotionless expression he always wore. Somehow, his pair of red eyes managed to look down at Zabuza despite the fact that he was a tad shorter than the exiled Mist shinobi.

Angered by the apparent disrespect as shown by the Uchiha's gestures, Zabuza tightened both hands' grip on the Kubikiri Honsho's long hilt and proceeded to aggressively charge towards the arrogant shinobi. "Prepare yourself, Itachi!"

Itachi remained completely impassive.

Soon enough Zabuza caught up with the Uchiha heir. He swung the massive sword down but before he could make through with his intention of cleaving the Leaf shinobi in half Itachi launched a quick, sharp kick against Zabuza's gut. The three people watching on the sidelines all marveled at sheer power of the attack that sent the nukenin flying all the way back into the river.

"Wow! So cool!" exclaimed Naruto.

Zabuza managed to recover while in midair to land with his feet sliding against the surface of the water. 'Why… Why can't I catch up with him?' The famed Demon of the Mist pondered inwardly.

"As a shinobi you should have known well enough not to judge other people simply from your preconceptions and their appearances." Itachi uttered as he walked casually towards Zabuza.

Seething, Zabuza clasped both his hands together forming the ox seal. Directly in front of him, he could see that Itachi has come to a halt, his hands forming the same initial seal like he is. Both jounins started executing a long series of hand seals while embedding huge amounts of chakra on the water underneath their feet causing the calm river's surface to wave unnaturally.

"Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!" They shouted after forming the final seal at exactly the same time making two pillars of pure water shaped that of dragons shot out from the surface of the river.

"The exact same jutsu?" commented Mikoshi.

'Zabuza performed that many seals in just a few seconds and despite his speed Itachi still managed to copy to them perfectly. This must be the power of the Sharingan.' Chitose thought in awe at the clashing of water dragons taking place in the air directly above the jounins.

"They have the same power! Itachi-sensei's dragon can't beat no-eyebrows' like that!" said Naruto.

Pitted by their casters, the water dragons slithered around, bit, tackled and ultimately obliterated one another in one massive explosion of water. Chitose and the two boys planted their feet firmly against the ground when a huge wave came rushing into the riverbank threatening to sweep all of them away along with it.

Underneath the strong torrent raining overhead, Zabuza held his position, his hands still holding the tori seal while standing a few yards from him Itachi was doing the exact same thing. 'Something's weird… What's going on?' He asked himself. 'Sharingan is supposed to be an ability where the user memorizes the opponent's jutsu and copies it. But…' His mind went back to the earlier event when the two jounins were executing the series of hand seals in preparation for the Suiryuudan no Jutsu. 'The jutsu was executed at the same time.' Zabuza narrowed his eyes malevolently at the enemy. 'How did he…'

"Relying too much and blinded by the information on the bingo book. You overestimate yours and your men's capacity and underestimate the capabilities of your opponents."

Zabuza stiffened when he heard that voice coming behind. There was no mistaking it. That voice could only have been Itachi's. A split second ago, he could have sworn that the leaf jounin was still standing out in front of him. 'How did he get here so fast?'

"That is not something that a shinobi should be doing."

Zabuza hurriedly spun around swinging his sword but to his disappointment the blade had hit nothing but thin air. A split second later and he saw something dangerously close streaked in a swift upward motion pass his line of sight. The next thing he felt was warm, sticky liquid seeping from his skin which was followed by a sudden, sharp flare of pain and the strong compulsion to clutch the injury with his free hand.

"Did he get him?" Mikoshi asked needlessly.

"Take that you no-eyebrow freak! Itachi-sensei rocks!" Naruto cheered, jumping up and throwing his fist in the air in glee.

When he lowered his hand, the first thing Zabuza saw was his bloodied palm. Watching his reflection on the clear water below, a long diagonal cut extended from the center of his forehead passing by his nose bridge and down to the right corner of his lips as seen through the torn and bloodstained cloth covering the lower part of his face.

"Let me thank you, Zabuza-san. You have performed well…" Itachi, who was now standing just a couple of steps away in front of the nukenin, said. On his right hand was a lone kunai, its sharp tip dripping with fresh blood.

Zabuza glanced up, his face contorting with rage towards the Uchiha. "I'LL KILL YOU!" He roared in a battle cry as he dashed madly forward dragging his heavy sword as he went. Blinded by his emotions, the Mist jounin was now hell bent on extracting revenge from Itachi for wounding his face.

Unaffected by the enemy's outburst, Itachi waited patiently for Zabuza to come closer, his lips moving slightly up in a confident and somewhat sadistic grin.

"DIE!" Zabuza screamed, raising the Kubikiri Honsho vertically upward with both hands and raining it down at Itachi. Itachi, for his part, lunged forward slashing at the enemy with his kunai. The result: Zabuza slid along the river, his front side skimming against the surface of the water while kneeling on the point of the exchange was Itachi. He remained in his attacking pose, right arm extended sideways while the other resting over his left knee, for the entire time that Zabuza's momentum dragged his body across the water.

Finally coming to a stop, Zabuza hoisted himself back up. However, to keep himself on his feet he had to use his sword as support. The kunai that was once on Itachi's hand was now buried unto Zabuza's limp left arm. Badly beaten and bleeding profusely, a panting Zabuza gathered his remaining strength and resolve and lifted his sword with his still functional hand back at the ready.

"Unfortunately the play ends here. I'm sorry but…" Itachi slowly stood up and turned to face his opponent. "…it's time for you to die," he said, revealing another kunai. Itachi began to race forward while Zabuza prepared to defend himself to the best that he can. Suddenly, an explosion erupted from the waters near the riverbank catching everybody by surprise and fortunately for the Mist nukenin, it bought enough of Itachi's attention that it made him stop his advance.

Landing on the ground was Gouzu, alive but beyond normal recognition. Almost all of his clothes have been torn away revealing the massive burns he incurred from Naruto's Karyuu Endan no Jutsu. The sickening aroma of charred flesh wafted in his presence and the look on his face, with most of its skin sizzled away baring his facial muscles and at some parts the white of his skull, makes for one truly terrifying sight.

"I-is he a m-monster…?" Mikoshi asked, his voice trembling with fear as the rest of his body.

Quickly, Naruto took out his kunai and held it out to the defensive with both hands. "Mikoshi, Chitose-neesan, please stay behind me!" The two need not a second telling and immediately hid themselves behind the blonde genin.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS BRAT!" Gouzu screamed full of hatred and rage as he charged straight towards Naruto with his blackened metal claws out.

'Dammit! This guy's tougher than I thought!' Naruto braced himself. He held his kunai tighter as he watched the obsessed chuunin moved closer and closer.

"DIE!" Gouzu threw his right arm with its sharp claws forward.

"Take this you bastard!" Naruto lunged forward, hoping to deliver the critical blow that will finally knock the enemy out for good.

Mikoshi, Chitose, Itachi, even Zabuza all held their breaths and time seems to have slowed down as the two closed in on one another.

A faint whoosh. A pair of needles cut through the air. Those two needles embedded themselves on an unsuspecting shinobi's neck. Blood flew out. Everyone turned wide-eyed with shock as Gouzu's body felt limp on the ground.

'He's here!' Zabuza caught himself just on the nick of time and raised his huge sword to block the swarm of incoming needles. After hearing the faint sounds of the needles safely rebounding against the thick flat of the Kubikiri Honsho, Zabuza took a sudden leap backwards avoiding yet another barrage of needles which have plunged themselves into the river instead. Quickly, the missing-nin returned his sword over his back and performed a hand seal with his only working and now free hand creating a thick cloud of mist to hide his presence. When the mist finally returned to how it naturally was before the battles started, Zabuza was already nowhere to be found.

Everyone turned their eyes to the direction from which the needles came from and the trail readily ended on the boy standing on top the sturdy branch of one of the riverside trees. His hair tied in a bun behind the back of his head while his long bangs swayed with the cold wind along with the rest of his greenish kimono. However, what was most intriguing with his clothing articles was the white mask with red designs that kept his face hidden. Engraved on the mask's forehead was the insignia of the Hidden Mist Village.

'What was that! He killed the chain bastard with just one shot!' Naruto stole a glanced at the dead Gouzu's body. 'He even drove that no-eyebrows away. That Zabuza was so strong and Itachi-sensei had a hard time dealing with him and yet it was like he was afraid of that guy, a kid who's no different from me.' The blonde returned his eyes back on the boy atop the tree. The air around him was calm and relaxed but deadly all the same. 'Are you saying that he did all that without soiling his clothes at all?' His teeth clenching as does his hands especially the one holding the kunai. 'He's making us look like idiots.'

"Are you alright, young master? Were you hurt?" The mysterious newcomer asked watching the group below, particularly the fifteen year old boy standing behind the blonde one in an orange jumpsuit.

Mikoshi watched the expression on Naruto's face. 'He's too easy to read.' He thought, shaking his head lightly in mild amusement. The prince then shifted his gaze back at the masked boy and asked, "And who might you be?"

"Forgive me for not identifying myself earlier." The boy bowed as he spoke. "I am Haku. I am part of Kirigakure's Hunter-nin squad patrolling the region around Mount Ohjin."

"Hunter-nin?" asked Naruto.

"Honestly, you don't know what a hunter-nin is?" Mikoshi sounded quite surprised. "Geez, are you sure you're really a ninja?"

"Hunter-nins are those who assassinate missing-nins like Zabuza who, for some reason, go against the village they were born in. They do it to conceal any secret of their village." Chitose explained for Naruto's benefit. For the rest of the time she just kept her eyes fixed on the boy who introduced himself as Haku. 'Haku… I think I've heard that name before…' "

Hey, you're a hunter-nin right? Aren't you going to run after Zabuza?" The young lady asked.

"No. Unfortunately my current mission is that of a higher importance that I must abandon pursuit of a nukenin should it come into conflict with the task at hand." Haku replied shaking his head for emphasis. "Lately, the Hidden Mist Village has received information that the daimyo's son had been spotted around the harbor village of Takefurukuma and that nukenins who were once from the Hidden Mist were after him. I was sent out to secure the prince and to escort him safely back to the daimyo's palace." Haku glanced down at the Leaf shinobis, moving his head from Naruto to Itachi and then bowed once again. "In behalf of the Water Country and the Hidden Mist Village, I would like to thank you for protecting our prince."

Naruto snorted in response.

"Your gratitude is unnecessary," said Itachi as he walked over to join with the rest of the party. "Our mission from the Leaf is to escort Kanamori-sama and Idaho-san back to the Water's capital city. Until we've accomplished that we won't be turning custody of them over to anyone and that includes you." Itachi continued, his voice matching the fierceness of his red eyes.

"Please don't misunderstand. I have no intention of taking the young master away from you. As far as I'm concern, my mission is also to bring the young master and his aide safely back to the palace. If I were to join you on your journey I will be fulfilling my mission and you will be fulfilling yours. Also, now that the nukenins know of our location joining forces will prove to be the best step towards our mutual success." Haku offered. "What do you say?"

Itachi closed his eyes, a gesture which means that he was carefully thinking over the young hunter-nin's proposal and its consequences on their mission. Not far away, Naruto turned towards his sensei hoping that the jounin would reject the offer. Unfortunately for him, luck wasn't on his side that time. "Alright, let's go together." Itachi said with a nod, his eyes now back to its normal color of black.

"A very wise choice." Haku said.

"What the hell are you saying Itachi-sensei!" Naruto yelled aloud. "Why is that guy tagging along with us! It's not like we can't protect that moron Mikoshi and Chitose-neesan on our own, right! Right!"

Itachi remained silent ignoring his blonde student's outburst.

"Are you saying that we can't finish this mission on our own! That we need help from the likes of him! Itachi-sensei–!"

"Shut up," came Itachi's harsh response. His words have not only silenced Naruto, it also surprised the three other people around them. "You are in no position to question my decision."

"But–!"

"Naruto-kun, you are a ninja. I expect you to act professionally." Itachi said cutting Naruto off before he could argue any further.

Naruto stared down on his feet in silence. Shortly his lips moved. "Are you okay with that…?" He asked, his voice as soft as a whisper

Itachi said nothing in response and merely cast a moment's glance over his student. His face was calm and betrayed nothing. Casting things aside as if the exchange had never happened, the Uchiha returned his attention to the young hunter-nin before them.

From the looks on their faces, Mikoshi and Chitose didn't seem to like the way Itachi handled things with his student. Also, as much as they wanted to give comforting words to blonde kid they fought hard the urge to do so and chose not to say anything for they well perfectly know that this was something personal between him and his sensei that they, as mere clients, have no right to intrude. All the two could share were looks of sympathy at the sight of the dejected boy's features.

"The next village is just a few kilometers away from here. We could stay there and rest for the remainder of the day then we'll get back on the road the first thing tomorrow." Haku suggested, breaking the uncomfortable silence that befell the group.

"Well, what are we waiting for? I'm hungry," complained the daimyo's son in hopes of steering the conversation away from dangerous territory.

"But before we leave, let me finish my task first." In a sudden gust of wind, Haku vanished from atop the branch and reappeared kneeling next to the dead Gouzu's body. He took out one of his needles and pinched his right thumb making it bleed. Next, he took out a tag, smudged some of his blood on it and threw the piece of paper over the corpse.

"What are you doing?" Mikoshi asked out of curiosity.

"I am going to dispose of this corpse. It is a body filled with secrets. Please turn your head away, young master. You may not like what you are going to see." Haku instructed but Mikoshi paid him no heed. Telling him off only made the hard headed kid want to see it more.

A small bulge formed at the center of the tag and smoke started coming out from it. Soon enough, several high pitched cries of birds began to flood the surroundings.

"Are those… ravens?" Naruto asked innocently. Seconds later and he got his question answered when a huge flock of black birds descended from the sky and began pecking and tearing through the dead body amongst themselves. Mikoshi quickly turned towards the opposite direction, revolting with disgust at the method used for the corpse's disposal. The sight all made him loss his earlier craving for food.

"W-wha… what the hell was that tag? How come the ravens suddenly flew here after the tag started smoking?" Naruto asked his eyes wide in a mix of awe, shock and disgust. He could see some of the birds moving away from the main congregation with bits and pieces of internal organs dangling in their beaks that was devoured just as quickly. The sickening sound of tearing flesh and droplets of blood flying through air added flavor to the gruesome display.

"That was a summoning tag," said Chitose.

"Summoning tag?"

"Yes." Haku answered this time. "Basically it is a variant of the inscription for the Kuchiyose no Jutsu that is activated through the offering of a user's blood. It summons the ravens and orders them to devour the corpse where the tag is placed. That summon is not contract-based though so anyone can use it."

As time passed by more and more ravens landed on the spot hoping to have their own share of the feast. It didn't take long though before the birds started to fly away leaving nothing not even bones on the ground. The only things that were left were the fresh blood and black feathers that marked the place where the dead body once laid.

"It's done," announced Haku.

"We've wasted too much time already. Let's go." Itachi was first to venture forward.

Mikoshi followed second trailed closely by Haku and finally Chitose and the party was soon back on its tracks all except for Naruto who had remained on his place, eyes down on the ground and seething silently to himself, his right hand still clenching the kunai very tight. His hands together with the rest of his body were trembling as he struggled with himself. 'I can't accept this!'

Noticing that the blonde kid wasn't with them Chitose turned around and found him still rooted on his place. "Naruto-kun what are you doing there! Let's go!" She called out.

Hearing Chitose-neesan's seemed to have snapped Naruto off his trance. Heaving out a large breath, the blonde finally relaxed himself. He placed the kunai safely back on the holster on his right and went after the rest of his companions and was soon walking side by side with the pretty long haired woman.

"Naruto-kun, are you okay?" Chitose asked worriedly.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I be?" Naruto said, flashing the wide, carefree, childish and somewhat idiotic grin he always wore.

"Are you sure?"

"Un!" Naruto sounded, energetically nodding his head up and down.

"Okay." Chitose said, returning the smile.


	13. Chapter 13: Hot Spring Flower

Rants: HI! Yeah I know this chapter is long delayed and I would be giving any lame excuses this time (did that already last chappie TT) so guys please accept my sincerest apologizies. Also, addressing the question frequently asked in the review: "is that weird training jutsu?" I'll just let Itachi answer that probably on the next or the next nextchapter. I'd also like to thank my beta/proof-reader/editor. He's a really great guy.

Edited by: NefariousPhoenix

* * *

It was now an hour past twelve and the morning mist that once hung over the land had already lifted. The group was currently traveling through the dirt road stretching along the forest. Naruto walked along side the two clients, Mikoshi and Chitose while trailing a few steps behind was Itachi. So far the journey had been peaceful and quiet, not even the loud-mouthed blonde kid was making any sound. That was because he had been busy shooting heated glares from slitted blue eyes towards the newcomer up front who, in Naruto's opinion, had shamelessly taken upon himself to lead their small group.

"We're now nearing the next village. Itachi-san, Naruto-kun, please take off your hite-ates." Haku instructed.

"Why should we take them off?" Naruto protested. "Isn't the hite-ate the symbol that we are real ninjas recognized by our village? Something that shows off a ninja's pride?" he asked. The kid was greatly scandalized by the idea of someone ordering him into taking off the forehead protector that he had spent sweat and blood to obtain, not to mention that he almost lost his life in the process. And the fact that he didn't like this guy one bit only made things worse. "Taking the hite-ate off is just plain stupid." The blonde spat.

"Yes, that is true Naruto-kun." Haku said with a nod. "However we can't have anyone know that you are from Konoha."

"And why is that?" Naruto asked through squinted eyes.

"Because it might jeopardize the Alliance Treaty that is currently being ratified by the Water Country's government."

"Alliance Treaty?" Naruto asked innocently.

"What? You didn't know?" Mikoshi cut in, looking thoroughly surprised.

Naruto shook his head furiously.

"Honestly, that stuff was what made the headlines all the way from the past two months and you're telling me that you don't know. Do you ever watch the news on TV or read the papers at all?"

"If I know about it then I wouldn't have shook my head moron!" Naruto argued back, growing rather irritated. 'This guy's pissing me off!'

'He's hopeless.' The prince heaved a sigh whilst shaking his head in disbelief. "Okay, listen up. I'm going to explain this in a simple manner to save time. The Fire and the Water Countries are currently having negotiations about forming a political, economic and military alliance with one another. If passed, it would allow freer trade between the two countries. Also, the treaty will allow alliance between with its shinobi villages, Konoha and Kiri, so they could help each other especially on situations like if there was a great need to defend the countries from outside threats and such. Basically, the treaty promises bring huge benefits, not to mention peace, for both parties."

"That's great then." Naruto sounded, nodding his head in the process, his arms crossed over his chest. 'I don't really get anything about this political stuff and all but I'll just pretend that I understand.'

"If a Leaf shinobi were to be seen with the young master, it could create rumor that the Fire Country is trying to harass and pressure the Water's government into passing the Treaty and that would be bad for the relationship with the two countries." Haku continued taking over the explanations from Mikoshi. "If worse comes to worst, it could spark another round of fighting between the two which could possibly lead into an all-out war."

"Hmm…" Miskohi mused, scratching his chin after that talk about the alliance treaty made something to suddenly cross his mind. "Now that I think about it, this whole fuss about the Alliance Treaty was what convinced Hokage-sama to allow us to have a regular genin team as escort instead of a troublesome squad from the Leaf Anbu."

"What did you say!" Naruto suddenly sprung up right before Mikoshi's face in all hyperactive fashion surprising the prince's wits off his head. "Is it true that this mission was supposed to be given to the Anbu but instead it was given to me?" The blonde kid asked excitedly, shifting his head from Mikoshi towards Chitose, "Is it?" and then to Itachi "Is it?"

"Yes." Itachi answered in a rather cold voice that was very normal of him. "It is protocol for shinobi villages that missions, no matter what the circumstances were, as long as it involves the security of a daimyo and his immediate family were to be classified as A and the village's special unit such as the Anbu was to be dispatched to accommodate the request. As for this mission, Hokage-sama was going to deploy a squad from the Anbu to escort Kanamori-sama and Idaho-san but after having a dialogue with the prince and being reminded of its implications to the ongoing negotiations with the Water, Hokage-sama was forced to grant Kanamori-sama's request and assigned the mission to Genin Team Number Eleven." The stoic young jounin did not bother to glance over at his student as he spoke.

The smile that was on Naruto's face slowly turned wider and wider.

"Yeah, and he was being too stubborn about it too," added Mikoshi. "Not to mention that it'd blow up our cover. Where in the world would you hear a couple of plain-looking tourists being escorted by an entire Anbu squad? That's just totally stupid."

"YAHOO!" Naruto broke out, suddenly jumping gleefully around with his hands thrown up into the air.

"What are you so happy about?" Mikoshi inquired, not catching the reason for the blonde to be happy like that. For all he know and considering all the dangers that they had gone through, any normal kid would have been pleading right now to turn around and go home.

"Don't you get it? This mission was supposed to be given to the Anbu but instead it was given to me! It means that Hokage-jiichan acknowledges my strength!" Naruto said aloud, still laughing and hopping ecstatically all over the place. "I knew it! I am incredible! I'm really going to be hokage! HAHAHA!"

'Actually, this mission was assigned to this team not because you were here but because of Itachi-san,' thought Mikoshi who was narrowing his eyes at the obnoxious blonde. 'You're so loud I wouldn't be surprised if more nukenins were to find us and appear right now.'

All of a sudden, Naruto came to halt and became completely silent that it caught everyone by surprise. Itachi, Haku, Mikoshi and Chitose all stopped on their tracks and cast their attention on the orange clad boy.

"What's wrong, Naruto-kun?" Chitose worriedly asked.

"AHA! I got it!" Naruto blurted out after a light suddenly sparked inside his head. "The no-eyebrows and his flunkies were after you because of that Alliance Treaty! They don't want Konoha to help Kiri in finding these missing-nins so they wanted to kidnap you so that they can demand from your father to reject that something treaty. That's got to be it!" 'Damn I'm good!' The blonde bragged inwardly, nodding his head vigorously up and down for emphasis.

"Engk!" Mikoshi sounded, imitating the sound of a buzzer from one of those cheap late night game shows. "No." He said flatly.

"WHAT!" Naruto exclaimed in disbelief. Apparently, it seems that only he found those to be of a great revelation as the other didn't look surprised one bit.

"If you were the hard-headed heir to the throne of the Water Country that loves to sneak out of the palace and travel around from place to place with not a single shinobi in tow, then it's natural that the enemy will be going after your trail like mad dogs, knowing full well how totally defenseless you are. And after all I am a very important person." Mikoshi added as an afterthought.

"I don't understand," said Naruto.

"You see I've been hearing a lot about how great the Autumn Festival at Konoha is, so 'neesan and I decided that we'd check it out for ourselves and snuck out of the palace. We've been pulling off this disappearing trick for years, running away and touring other countries. It just so happened that we pulled another one at a critical time – while this Alliance Treaty is being discussed – so I guess that's why people are making such a big deal of it. Soon enough rumors like those saying that those nobles who were vehemently opposed to the treaty kidnapped me and were using me as a hostage to derail the passing of the treaty or that a minister or someone from the Hidden Mist is plotting another coup d'etat or something. You'd always hear stuff like that floating around here. It kinda gives you an idea of how chaotic things are in this country." The prince explained, shrugging his shoulders. "A very unstable political atmosphere, an economy close to falling into a full-scale collapse, frequent uprisings and civil unrest, plus a restless shinobi village to boot," he continued, shaking his head, "the Water is such a messed-up country. You simply just can't trust anyone here, especially when you're at the top."

"Kanamori-sama," Haku interrupted, "I don't think it's a good idea for someone of high stature such as yourself to be speaking so lowly about his own country, especially not to foreigners like Itachi-san and Naruto-kun."

Mikoshi simply waved the young hunter-nin off. "It's okay. There's always no harm in telling something that everyone already knows."

"Ano…" Chitose sounded. "Ryuji-sama, I think Haku has a point. You shouldn't really be telling things like…"

"Nonsense. I'm sure the Fire and Konoha know pretty well of the Water's true situation." Mikoshi said, cutting the young woman off. He then shifted his eyes towards the black-clad jounin. "Isn't that right Itachi-san?"

Itachi, however, was intelligent enough not to grace that question with an answer and simply kept his eyes straight on the road ahead.

"So you're saying that they're not after you because of that treaty." Naruto repeated.

"Yes." Mikoshi nodded. "Those nukenins have been after me from as far as I can remember. They just happened to be more active these days. Nothing new about that." He said casually as if being hunted down by a group of wanted and highly dangerous shinobis wasn't something to fuss about.

"So why are they after you?" Naruto asked.

Mikoshi sighed in exasperation. 'I give up. This guy is totally hopeless.'

* * *

Hidden on a small clearing somewhere within the huge span of the forest, Zabuza sat next to a sturdy tree to rest his beaten body and pulled the kunai off his damaged left arm. 'That bastard…' He cursed, still furious about his defeat from the hands of the so-called Uchiha genius. 'For some reason, I couldn't suddenly catch up with his movements. He seems to know what I am going to do next…' The 'Demon' paused for a moment, contemplating. '…It is as if he could somehow read the future...'

Then, the words of the enemy rang through his head.

'"Let me thank you, Zabuza-san. You have performed well… Unfortunately the play ends here."'

'Could it be…?'

Fresh from the sudden realization, his mind immediately reared back to the time when he was exchanging stares with the Leaf jounin who was then trapped within his Suirou no Jutsu. '"He is Uzumaki Naruto, Yondaime Hokage-sama's legacy. He won't die."' Itachi said back then.

"That bastard!" Zabuza was clenching his right hand so tight in his anger he feel it become numb. 'How could we be so stupid as to fall for his trap!'

Going back to the time of the ambush, nine Mist nukenins, under Zabuza's instruction, had leapt out of their hiding places and rained down upon the prince and his aide. Itachi then vanished from his place in front of Naruto and reappeared before the clients in a burst of godlike speed and quickly dealt with the attackers. A second later and all nine bodies fell lifeless on the ground.

Next, the young jounin turned his head, eyes focused on a particular tree where Zabuza was hiding.

'Back then, after he disposed of the nine and found my location he must have also noticed Gouzu's presence even though he was keeping himself some good distance behind.'

'"There seems to be no other alternative in this situation." Itachi stepped forward and narrowed his eyes at him. A heavy feeling suddenly floated through the air catching the missing-nin's attention. When he looked back, the Uchiha heir's eyes were no longer black but instead were colored red. Three dots shaped like commas marked inside each of his pupils. "Let's begin."

"Ah. I get to see the famous Sharingan. I'm honored." Zabuza remembered himself saying back then.'

'When he activated his Sharingan, the moment I saw his eyes he had already subjected me under his hypnosis and started to suggest subconsciously what I was going to think and do next. From that point on everything became all but an act.'

'"Did I get him?" Itachi whispered to himself as he watched the faint flickering of light from the fire burning a few yards behind the mist.

"No."

Zabuza had suddenly appeared right behind him, already performing a set of hand seals. "Suirou no Jutsu!" He announced as the water underneath Itachi quickly rose up becoming a spherical water containment that trapped the young jounin helplessly inside.'

'He allowed himself to be captured by the Suirou no Jutsu and let Gouzu fight that little brat.'

Several scenes from when Naruto battled Gouzu flashed through Zabuza's mind. However, what he remembered the most was when Naruto used the Karyuu Endan no Jutsu to force him to abandon the Suirui no Jutsu. He was going after the prince then when suddenly, the kid appeared from out of nowhere in a burst of speed that he could have sworn to have almost rivaled that of Itachi's.

'"Take this!"'

That was the first time that a rookie genin, not in any way worthy by his standards, to have ever landed a punch on his face. And there's nothing he wouldn't give up to pay the kid back for the humiliation he'd received that day.

'It seems to me that he did all that just to test that blonde kid's abilities.'

Zabuza could clearly picture the grin that curled from Itachi's lips while he was trapped inside the water prison. It revealed a sense warped of satisfaction from the Jounin's face.

'I didn't expect that one mere glance from those unpleasant eyes was enough to invade my mind. That one fatal mistake was what completely rendered my Sharingan counter strategy useless. How could I be so careless?'

"My, my, looks like you've taken quite a beating there kid."

Zabuza, snapped from his reverie, glanced up and saw a tall man in a long black cloak decorated with red cloud designs standing on the tall branch of one of the nearby trees. A huge sword, its blade wrapped in bandages has hanging behind his back, the weight of which kept his long dress from being swayed too much by the wind. He could tell that man was particularly taking notice of the long nasty wound up on his face.

"What are you doing here, Kisame?"

"There's been a change of plans following your recent screw up," answered Kisame while taking his wide straw hat that covered his head and face off. The long slash that span across his hite-ate running through the Kirigakure symbol engraved on the metal plate revealed him to be another nukenin. "We won't be needing the prince anymore. At least not yet."

"Hmph. You came all the way here just to tell me that?" Zabuza snorted, his voice revealing a small hint of dislike for the new comer. It didn't help that the features of the man's face happened to be somewhat shark-like in appearance. "Either way, I've already sent someone to trail after them."

* * *

A man, whose face was covered in a white mask marked by two black slits for eyes, black colored lines for design and the mark of the Hidden Mist Village on the forehead, raced his way through the thick forest. A hunter-nin on the first glance, his long black cloak floated through the air in his wake.

* * *

"You're still as wasteful as you are inefficient, kid."

Zabuza narrowed his eyes on the man hovering above, a clear indication he did appreciate that last remark with all the mockery it had with it. However, he didn't do a thing about it and simply chose to keep his quiet.

"There's one more thing."

"…?"

"Next time, I'm going to fight that Uchiha Itachi seeing that you can't handle him."

"Uchiha Itachi is mine." Zabuza growled. He released all the killing intent that he could muster given his current condition to back his claim. "I'm going to make him and his little brat pay for what they did to me."

"Suit yourself." Kisame shrugged, completely unaffected by the recent display of hostility. "However that doesn't change anything. You will play your part of the plan, whether you like it or not." Leaving the threat, Kisame turned into a blur disappearing from sight and leaving Zabuza alone to count his loses.

"I'll make him pay." A furious Zabuza mumbled. He clenched his fist so tight in his anger that pain was starting flare from it out of the nails biting the skin in his hand, the knuckles already turning white. "No one treats me and my men like guinea pigs. No one."

* * *

"Here we are." Mikoshi announced.

"Yunohana Village…" Chitose said as she read through the traveler's guide book she had in hand. "…This village which is situated right on the foot of the dormant volcano Mount Ohjin is host to a number of world-class hot spring resorts and health spas and has been a popular getaway for the citizen's of the Water Country who wished to heat up during the long cold season…"

"A hot spring?" sounded Naruto who was clearly doubtful of the idea. "Hey! Weren't we going straight to the capital city? The sooner we get there the sooner we can get off each the enemies' tail!" Naruto yelled at the prince though he did glance sideways at Haku when he said the word 'enemies'.

Haku easily noticed the gesture with all the distrust and dislike Naruto embedded on it however he did not say anything about it and chose to simply let it slide.

"Don't worry. The capital is just a day's walk away and it's already three in the afternoon." Mikoshi reassured him. "We'll rest and spend the rest of the day here and get back on our journey the first thing tomorrow morning just like originally planned, right Haku?"

"Yes young master." Haku replied with a nod.

"Hmph. I still don't think this is a good idea." Naruto crossed his arms and grumbled.

"C'mon, let's go." Mikoshi said in a rather authoritative tone, taking the first step forward.

Away from sight, a shadowy figure landed behind the trunk of a large tree, efficiently using the thinning number of vegetation at the edge of the forest to conceal himself.

Itachi moved his eyes sideways after sensing something move behind the foliage along the roadside. After seeing a white rabbit pop out from the low-lying shrubs he was quick to discard the feeling, relaxing his guard as the group ventured into town. It didn't take long before they reached a fairly large hotel.

"We have five customers!" The manager exclaimed as the group stepped in.

"Welcome!" Five beautiful attendants enthusiastically followed, flashing their most brilliant smile at the customers. When the ladies caught sight of Itachi, their eyes immediately turned into hearts. Itachi, on the other hand, ignored the love struck girls who were giggling madly and patting their eye lashes seductively at him.

Mikoshi quickly approached the manager. "Hey old man, how much do you charge for an overnight stay per person?"

"It's one thousand ryou per person for an overnight stay, young master."

"Too expensive. Can't you give it at three hundred fifty ryou?"

"I'm sorry." The manager shook his head. "You see, that's the standard rate around here, plus with the winter season's approaching we have been receiving a lot of reservations. I suggest you check in now while we still have a couple of rooms available. Don't worry, this establishment is first class. I assure you, you'll be getting your money's worth with our top notch amenities and services."

"We'll just come back later." Mikoshi turned his back at the manager and nodded at his companions, silently telling them that they ought to go somewhere else. The girls withered with disappointment when the group, more specifically when Itachi stepped out of the establishment.

"Three hundred fifty ryou? Hey Mikoshi, aren't you being way too cheap?" asked Naruto.

"Oh just shut your hole and watch a professional tourist in action."

With so many establishments to choose from, the group wandered around for quite sometime with Mikoshi and Chitose taking the lead. They spent their time going from one resort to the next haggling with the owners for the cheapest rate they can get. So far not a single person in town had recognized Mikoshi which was a good thing.

However, their group could not avoid catching people's attention namely because of Haku, with his hunter-nin get up, mask and everything. The village did have their fair share of experiences in dealing with shinobis as Mist ninjas on vacation and sometimes those from other shinobi villages also visits the town's numerous hot springs but it is however rare that they'd encounter a hunter-nin. Things went on smoothly still as the locals would simply look away and get back to their own business once their curiosity was satisfied and the fact that Naruto and Itachi took off their hite-ates before entering the village helped kept it at that.

Finally, after an hour of searching, they have found an establishment that would take them in at a rate of four hundred and fifty ryou per person. Mikoshi paid the deposit and walked away from the reception desk with two room keys in hand. "Okay, we got two nice rooms plus unlimited usage of the hot spring at the back."

"Very well, I'm going to go patrol the surrounding areas for possible threats. I hope you have fun young master. Please excuse me." Haku nodded showing a gesture of respect for the prince in disguise and vanished without a trace.

Itachi scanned the lobby, searching for anything suspicious. He found nothing thus far. However, he wasn't going to take chances. His experience working as Anbu for years have taught him that much. "Naruto-kun, you go with the clients."

"Huh? You're not coming sensei?"

"No. I'm going to stand guard here to make sure that everything stays safe. Make sure that you stay alert and don't take your eyes off Mikoshi-kun and Chitose-san." He instructed, using the prince and his aide's fake names. "Understood?"

Naruto nodded in reply before going after Mikoshi who had already gone ahead. The two boys and Chitose all went for their respective locker rooms while Itachi went to sit by the couch on the other side of the lobby.

'So far everything seems fine.' Crossing his arms, Itachi sat patiently while keeping his senses attuned to the surroundings. It didn't take long before he caught the faint sound of footsteps approaching in his general direction. He glanced up and turned towards the building's entrance.

* * *

"AHH! This is refreshing!" exclaimed Mikoshi.

"This is warming me up," followed Naruto. The two boys relaxed themselves, their bodies immersed into the pool of steamy warm water all the way up to their necks.

"Of course it's warm. That's why it's called a hot spring, idiot."

"SHUT UP! Are you trying to make fun of me!" Naruto screamed in indignation. He stood up; the water now only reached inches below his waist, and flashed his shaking fist threateningly at the other kid. Mikoshi simply looked away wearing a smug smile of satisfaction on his face.

The door suddenly slid open catching the occupant's attention.

"Wow! This is great! There no else in here! It's like we rented the whole place!"

"Wha…" Speechless, Naruto's mouth dropped and almost fell into the water. His face blushed profusely. There Chitose was, not a single piece of clothing on her, standing by the walkway at the edge of the pool.

"'ne-ne-ne-neesan, what are you doing here?" Naruto stammered in protest.

"Didn't you know, Naruto-kun?" Chitose sounded. She didn't seem to be a bit surprised to see Naruto here and wasn't in a way embarrassed despite knowing that the boy was staring on her naked self. "This is a mixed bath. Men and women are supposed to bathe here together."

"A-a-a mixed bath…" was all that the blonde could say. The information and the sight of Chitose's voluptuous, perfectly shaped body caused an overload on his head. He remained in that state of shock, gaping for the next couple of minutes.

'Heh. Have a taste of your own medicine, you bastard.' A vengeful Mikoshi thought, grinning profusely. It seems that he had seen Chitose in this state far too many times already that the closet pervert had become immune from its effects. The humiliation he received from Naruto's hand during their first meeting at Konoha flashed before him. Back then Naruto and his little sidekick used their vulgar jutsu, the Oiroke no Jutsu, to cause him a terrible nosebleed rendering him unconscious while they made their escape. Truly, revenge is such a sweet thing.

'What a shameless woman…' That was the thought that run through Naruto's head.

The once refreshing stay in the hot spring became completely uncomfortable with the addition of a naked Chitose. He didn't want her to think of him as a pervert now, did he? Invoking the sense of delicacy that people thought he didn't have counting the numerous pranks he'd pulled off in the past, Naruto really wanted to make his leave but unfortunately he could not do so without having the young woman see his privates so he had no choice but to stay in the water. At least the fact that Chitose was on the other side of the pool and the water covering her 'unmentionables' came as a welcome consolation.

"This feels so good!" said Chitose who was completely enjoying her stay in the steamy water.

"Umm, 'neesan…"

"What is it Naruto-kun?"

"No… nothing…." A deeply embarrassed Naruto sank half of his brightly red face into the water. He wanted to ask her when they were going to leave since they had been staying in the hot water for quite some time now but he didn't want to sound rude, something that was completely out of his character.

"Cut the 'courteous gentleman' act already. It doesn't suit you at all." teased Mikoshi.

"Sh-shut up you closet pervert!"

"By the way," Mikoshi ignored the blonde's outburst and began to muse aloud. "How is Itachi-san doing out there?"

"Tee hee." Chitose giggled. "Don't worry about him. Itachi-san is having a very good time."

* * *

Back at the entrance lobby, Itachi was being surrounded by a horde of girls, all screaming amongst themselves and trying to ask him for a date. The place was in chaos and the bath establishment's security was completely helpless against the crowd of rabid fan girls.

"Girls please…" the security guard pleaded. Too bad his protests fell on deaf ears.

Itachi continued to act his composed and cold self, filtering off the girls with the racketing sight and noise they made off his mind. Little did he know that his ignoring them only made the girls fall for him even more.

* * *

"So that's why no one is coming inside." Naruto said aloud. Both he and Mikoshi were howling in laughter after hearing Chitose's tale.

"Oh, it's almost time for dinner. What do you say we go fetch ourselves something to eat." The young woman suggested. Glancing up, the sky's colors have turned in a mix of orange and red while the few clouds that floated above had the shades to dark purple in them.

"Sure. We've stayed here far too long already. I feel like I'm boiled down to the bone." Mikoshi seconded.

Nodding once, Chitose was first to stand up and leave the water bestowing the boys with a final glance of her naked body. The free 'show' lasted until she stepped inside the locker room and pulled the sliding door close.

Again, Naruto's mouth hung at the sight. Suddenly, he felt something nudging at his shoulder which brought him back to reality. Shifting sideways, he Mikoshi looking at him with a sleazy grin on his face.

"I have some pictures of 'neesan bathing. I can give you some if you want."

"SHUT UP!"

* * *

"I feel dizzy staying in there too long." Naruto complained. He insisted on staying in the hot spring for five minutes more after Chitose had left to make sure that they wouldn't catch her dressing inside the shared locker room. Right now the little group composed only of him, Mikoshi and Chitose had been wandering around in search for a nice ramen stand.

Too bad the boys didn't get a chance to confirm what Chitose had told them earlier in the baths because when they got there the lobby was already devoid of people with the exception of the receptionist and the guard on duty. When asked where the handsome teenager with longish black hair who was sitting on the couch had gone to, both the receptionist and the guard replied that they didn't see him because they had just started their shift.

'I guess Itachi-sensei's running away from the girls right now.' Naruto chuckled at the idea of his sensei being chased by fan girls. Also, the hunter-nin Haku hasn't return from his rounds yet. Naruto couldn't care less what happens to him.

"Then why don't we go to bar and have a drink. Sake tastes good after a nice warm bath. Plus, it does wonders in snapping your senses back on track." Chitose suggested.

"Good idea! I think I saw bar that way." Mikoshi exclaimed pointing at the road branching from the on they're currently taking. "We could go check it out."

"W-w-w-wait a minute! You mean you guys are drinking alcohol!" Naruto asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, what about it?" answered Mikoshi.

"Aren't you guys too young to be drinking!" Naruto yelled aloud. He vigorously raised his arm and pointed accusingly at Mikoshi and Chitose. "You're not twenty yet! You can't drink alcohol!"

"Who said anything about not being allowed to drink alcohol when you're not twenty years old?" Miksohi asked innocently.

"Hmm. How should I explain this…" Chitose mused, taking her time thinking. "Naruto-kun, do you remember what I told you about the Fire and Water having different culture and customs from each other?"

Naruto nodded. That was after they left Konoha. The same time when they were first attacked by the missing-nins who were after Mikoshi.

"Well, this is one example of that. You see, in the Water Country where the temperature is usually cold the people here drink alcohol in order to warm themselves. Here, minors are allowed to drink alcohol." Chitose explained.

"I see…"

"Anyway, you're from the Fire so that means that you aren't allowed to drink, however that doesn't mean that you can't step inside a bar. You can just munch on the appetizers that they've got. They're really tasty, you know."

"Okay, if you say so…" resigned, Naruto followed the two as they made a detour on the next turn. Chitose did have a point and there's no arguing that. So much for his great ramen.

The person hiding in the shadows nodded, finally deciding to make his move.

"I've finally found you, young master." The man appeared into full view after stepping out from an alleyway just a couple of paces ahead blocking their way. His long black cloak, with its hood thrown over his head, and white Mist hunter-nin's mask looked ominous.

"Who are you!" Naruto called out. He immediately pushed the clients behind and lowered himself in a battle-ready stance shortly after the hunter-nin revealed himself.

"I assure you that my loyalties reside with the Mist and the Water. There's nothing to worry about."

Naruto tensed up when the hunter-nin started taking steps forward. Tightening his knuckles, he was ready to jump into battle the moment this person made one wrong move.

"Come." The man said as he raised his arm.

Naruto felt a strange sensation had fell before him and slowly his awareness of the things happening around them slowly dropped. Their eyes felt heavy along with their bodies. Now, the stranger's offer began to sound really inviting.

'…everything is going to alright…' They could hear a voice from deep within their minds kept on saying, suggesting.

From behind his mask, the man's lips curled into a smirk. 'Hehehe. This is so eas–' The hunter-nin's thoughts came to an abrupt stop. A great shock fell over his hidden face. Behind, a number of needles have embedded themselves on vital acupuncture points on his back and neck. However, instead of a thick red, clear liquid started to pour out off the various wounds and soon enough, the hunter-nin's body burst into water.

Following the Mizubunshin's dispersal, Naruto, Mikoshi and Chitose all snapped back into their senses.

"Are you okay, young master?" asked Haku who have just appeared before the group.

"Yeah, I guess so." Mikoshi shook the daze off his head. He too was affected by the same jutsu that affected Naruto and so does Chitose. "What happened?" The prince of the Water asked.

"It seems that the enemy had placed you under a hypnotic genjutsu. If the jutsu had taken full effect, you would have been completely under his power. That would most likely lead to your capture." Haku explained.

Naruto, on the other hand, seethed silently to himself. He could not believe that he had fallen for such a jutsu and was so short to handing over Mikoshi and Chitose-neesan to that hunter-nin without a fight. Also, the fact that this was the second time Haku had saved him made things twice as worse. It made him feel incompetent, useless, a complete waste of time. He had had enough of that feeling being an outcast of the village. He was sick of it.

"Kanamori-sama, this place isn't safe anymore and we cannot stay here any longer. The enemy is still lurking about and we don't know if there are more of them around. Please return to the hotel and start packing your belongings. We need to leave as soon as possible."

Mikoshi nodded.

"Naruto-kun," Haku said, glancing over at the blonde. "Please escort the young master back to the hotel and remain there. I will go find and inform Itachi-san of the current situation. If none of us is back within thirty minutes then take the prince and leave the village. We'll just catch up with you later."

Naruto did not offer a reply. Haku quickly took his silence as a yes.

"I'll leave things in your hands." That said and Haku became a blur and disappeared from sight.

* * *

"That was close," said the shadowy hunter-nin. All these time, his real self had been keeping an eye on the group from his vantage point on the rooftop of an adjacent building. Quite expectedly, the target and his escorts were now on run following his failed attempt. "Either way, I know were they're heading. Securing the target should still be a piece of cake."

"I wouldn't count on that."

Surprised, the hunter-nin turned around towards the source of the voice. There standing on the same rooftop paces away from him was a boy. However, this boy wasn't just some ordinary kid. He was a hunter-nin just like him. "You…"

"I'm sorry but I cannot let you leave this place." Haku took out some of his needles, flashing them menacingly at the enemy as he spoke. "Please don't take this personally."

* * *

Packing up didn't take much time and now the three stayed inside the hotel room in silence. No, there's wasn't a tense feeling in the atmosphere in fact it was calm even with the knowledge that the enemy was fast gaining on them and could well burst in from the door or the window at any moment. It was just that no one felt like talking, not even the usually loud and obnoxious Naruto.

"Full of piss and vinegar, aren't we?" It was Mikoshi who broke the silence. He took the trouble of get up from his comfortable place lying over the queen-sized bed and walked towards the chair where a sulking Naruto was sitting in silence.

"…"

Mikoshi sighed. The Naruto he knew would have shouted back at him already. "That guy Haku. You're jealous of him, aren't you?"

"I'm not jealous of him. It's just that…" Naruto hesitated then decided to keep his mouth shut, not any utter a single more word.

Chitose took out a small bottle and a spoon from inside her traveling bag. She then walked towards were the boys were gathered. "Naruto-kun, open your mouth."

Naruto looked up glancing questioningly at Chitose, particularly at the spoonful of liquid something she was holding.

"This medicine will warm you up. You'll immediately feel better afterwards."

"I'm fine." Naruto said stubbornly. The young lady didn't seem to buy that and keep staring at the boy's blue eyes. It appeared that Chitose was more stubborn at the time than he was. Sighing, Naruto opened his mouth without any arguments or complains. When he tasted the medicine though, it felt like his tongue was going to burn. "Phew! 'neechan what was that disgusting thing!" Naruto asked aloud, reflexively spitting the liquid out.

"That was SA– KE." Chitose replied bursting in an all out smile.

"WHAT!" Naruto screamed. "I ALREADY TOLD YOU THAT I CAN'T DRINK ALCOHOL! WHY DID YOU DO THAT!"

"See, you're already back to your old self already," said a chuckling Chitose.

Naruto dropped it, chuckling himself realizing that sometimes even he had to be on the receiving end of pranks.

"Back to the topic." Mikoshi sounded catching Naruto's attention. "What's your thing against that Haku? Is it that you're feeling suspicious of him or anything?"

"No. Not really. I think he's a trustworthy person. It's just that thinking how he'd fare against the no-eyebrows, the chain idiot and that hunter-nin we encountered just now, it's like he's just breezing through them and these guys were strong. Heck, Itachi-sensei nearly got his ass kicked by Zabuza but Haku drove him away just like that. You've seen how he killed Gouzu. He also saved all of us by defeating that mizubuunshin. It's just…" Naruto paused for a moment trying to find the right words. "…unfair. He's only a kid just like me and yet he can fight so well and not get his clothes soiled in battle. I makes me feel–"

"Listen Naruto-kun…" It was Chitose who spoke. "You should expect things like that… since you're a ninja."

Surprised by those words, Naruto glanced back at the woman and saw her filled with all seriousness. Her carefree smile now gone.

"Do you know why they called Zabuza the 'Demon of the Mist'?"

Naruto shook his head.

"Long ago, the Hidden Mist Village was also called the Village of Bloody Mist. Like the other hidden villages, they too had a graduation exam that one must pass before they become a full pledge ninja. However, this exam is very different from that of the other villages..."

"What kind of exam is it?" Naruto asked his curiosity piqued.

"Fight to the death between students." Chitose sounded grim, like she became a different person all of a sudden. Naruto felt his throat tighten after hearing those. "Friends who have trained and eaten at the same table are pitted against each other and goes at it… until one of them losses his life. These are the same friends who helped each other and shared their dreams."

"Terrible…" commented Mikoshi.

"I think around eighteen or so years ago the Mist graduation exam was forced to change. This change came about because the previous year, a demon appeared."

"What change? What did this demon do?" Naruto asked.

"A young boy who was not even qualified to become a ninja had killed over a hundred of the students that year… and killed them all without pause or hesitation."

"No way." was all Naruto could mutter. That no-eyebrows was that same heartless demon who killed his friends without hesitation or remorse? No wonder why he was so strong.

Chitose nodded, answering the question that never got out of the blonde kid's lips. "Momochi Zabuza is the Demon of the Mist, a missing-nin ranked A in the bingo book, probably even S yet Itachi-san who was nine years his junior was able to match up with him and Haku who has younger still drove him away. What does this tell you, Naruto-kun?"

Honestly, Naruto had no idea what all of that meant. He looked up at Mikoshi for answers but the older kid simply shrugged meaning that he too didn't know the answer. Finally, after wasting a few minutes trying to work it out and failing Naruto glanced back at Chitose and shook his head. "What does it mean, 'neechan?"

Chitose smiled serenely at Naruto. "It means that in this world, there exist people who are younger than you yet stronger than both Itachi-san and Haku."

"...younger than me… yet stronger than Itachi-sensei…" Naruto repeated. Somehow he's beginning to see the whole point of this conversation and where it's headed.

"That's right." The young woman nodded in affirmation. "But just because you know that there's probably a kid out there who is miles way ahead of you doesn't mean that you'll have to sulk all day and give up on your dream, doesn't it?"

Those words hit him hard and they seemed to have done the trick. 'neechan was right, he wasn't doing anythingaside fromsulking and being envious. Can those things take him anywhere? "Hah. Who said anything about giving up?" 'That's right! I can't let something like this bring me down!' thought Naruto. Now that his systems were finally gearing back on track, the hyperactive blonde energetically jumped off his seat with both fists raised in the air. "I'm going to train even harder than before… I'll become stronger… then I'm going catch up and then I'm going to own these guys and finally…" Naruto bragged, blue eyes shining with determination. "I'm going to become Hokage!"

"Those are big words you've just said. Are you sure can do all that?" Mikoshi asked, his tone sounded doubtful much like the look that was etched across his face.

"Of course. I don't go back on my word." Naruto grinned widely and flashed a thumbs up in a way that's frighteningly similar to how his friend and fellow genin back at the Leaf would have done. "That's my nindo."

Mikoshi lightly shook his head, still looking pretty much unsatisfied. However, beneath the superficial show of disbelief, he trust the blonde kid would one day make it true to his words, no matter how unrealistic they seem to be.

* * *

On the same rooftop, Haku silently watched as the ravens devoured the remains of the hunter-nin he had just killed. The soft sound of sandals tapping against the concrete floor floated in the air. "I know that you were the one who has been following me around." Haku said, not taking his eyes off the flock of black birds that were engaged in a wild feeding frenzy.

The man standing several paces behind him did not utter a single word in response.

"It seems that I haven't completely gained your trust…" Haku continued, "Itachi-san."

"This mission is something that is of high importance. 'Trust' is not a luxury that can be carelessly given on a whim, especially not in this situation," came Itachi's cold reply. "…as a shinobi, you should be fully aware of this."

"I see…" Haku sounded bitterly. "It's just like what the young master has said. 'You simply just can't trust anyone.' That also holds true to shinobis, as it does to the nobility."

Silence reigned between the two for some time with the only sounds that can be heard were those of the cries of ravens and the noise of tearing entrails and splattering blood.

"Do you that this man was fighting for his ideals?" It was Haku who broke the silence.

"…"

"Shinobis are tools of war. They aren't supposed to hold trivial things like dreams and ideals. It is because he held one that this person now lies there, dead."

"Then what is it that you hold?"

"I don't have any ideals…" There was a short pause. "…but I do have a dream."

"You're contradicting yourself." Itachi snorted.

"So it seems." Haku chuckled lightheartedly. Slowly, he shifted his head and glanced over his shoulder at Itachi. "Itachi-san, from the stories that I've heard it seems that you have already achieved so much. Needed and loved by your family... Looked up to by your peers and the people of your village… For someone like you, do you have a dream?"

"No." Itachi flatly said. "Dreams are impractical, unrealistic, far removed from present circumstances. It is nothing more than outlived fantasies. I don't find things as trivial as that to suit me."

"That's too bad…" Haku lowered his head and for some reason his voice saddened. "Then you may not be as strong as I once thought."

Itachi was caught by surprise by those last words Haku had spoken he was left speechless. 'Is he teasing me?'

Haku turned around to face the Leaf jounin properly. "I deeply apologize for my rudeness." He said, lowering his head in a sincere gesture. He straightened himself shortly afterwards and raised his right hand forming a half seal. "Please excuse me." A gust of wind suddenly blew about carrying with leaves that spun around the boy's figure. Exactly after the hunter-nin disappeared from sight, the flock of ravens began to take flight.

Itachi sighed inwardly. 'I prefer to refer to it as 'goal'.' Focusing his eyes on the mess left by the birds, he immersed himself deep in thought. 'If you have just asked me what my goal is I would have told you.'

* * *

The next morning, three hunter-nins, all wrapped in long cloaks and mask over their faces, gathered on the spot up on the rooftop that was stained with dried blood from last night's battle. The hunter-nin on the middle, her long hair floating with wind, knelt down, took out a finger and scratched the blood stained floor. She then lifted her mask halfway so that her mouth was revealed and tasted the material scraped by her fingernail.

"There's no doubt about it. This is Toshiro's blood. Whoever did this, that guy is good," she said.

"Dammit! They've gotten here ahead of us." The hunter-nin left of the woman cursed.

"There's no time. We must informMizukage-sama about this incident," the guy on the right ordered. He appeared to be the leader of this squad.

"Hai!" The two others replied and in a blink of an eye the entire group vanished from the rooftop.


	14. Chapetr 14: At The End Of The Road

Rants: It's been a while since I wrote one of these. First of all, I'd like to apologize for the lack of update these few months. Updates will be going out more consistently from here on out. Actually, I've been rather busy lately: crammed for nights to finish my thesis, graduated last March, landed immediately after graduation, broke up with my girlfriend, (you may insert lame excuse here), etc, etc. Honestly though, I hit a pretty thick wall in this chapter and had to revise it several times. I even considered chopping it into two like what I did to chapters 8 and 9 but thought against it since I don't think each of half could stand on their own. It is quite lengthy and could feel like dragging for most parts since this is, well, a pivotal chapter connecting the first into the second half of the story arc. As always, comments and criticism are welcome.

* * *

Daybreak. A lone boat was drifting along the calm waters of the great river that silently cuts its way through the heart of the densely forested valley.

"The mist sure is heavy today. I can hardly see anything up front." Chitose mused aloud. She was shifting her head from side to side trying to catch a view of the surroundings. So far, all that greeted her was a boring hue of dull white.

"We should reach the capital soon." Haku offered. Standing by the rear of the boat and armed with a long pole, the difficult task of navigating the boat blindly through the haze fell solely on his shoulders. However, since he was used to fighting on conditions where the visibility was down to near zero, paddling the boat along the mist covered waters proved to be an easy task for the seasoned hunter-nin.

Seated at the front, Naruto's squinted eyes grew wide with excitement. Out into the horizon the silhouette of a massive structure slowly became visible against the curtain of mist. As the sun slowly crept up illuminating the heavens, the mist slowly lifted away and the shadow was soon revealed to be a magnificent castle towering behind the skyline of a huge and highly urbanized city.

"WOW! It's huge!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Welcome to the capital of the Water Country, Takayama-shi." Mikoshi, who had been sharing the backseat with Itachi for the entirety of the boat ride, spoke up in his usual bored tone. "See that huge castle over there? That is where the Water's sovereign holds residence, Takayama Castle. That's where we will be heading."

"Cool! So cool!" Naruto couldn't help but marvel at the sight. Takayama Castle was shining with a radiant reddish orange glow from the light of the sun rising behind it. It was simply stunning. Naruto was very thankful that at least once in his life he was able to go visit such a place and witness a truly breathtaking scene. "Hurry up! Hurry up! I wanna go see the castle right away!" He exclaimed excitedly, asking Haku to speed the boat up.

"Gomen. Since there wasn't any motorized boat available, this is the fastest we can go," the missing nin answered apologetically.

"Besides, there's no need to hurry Naruto-kun. We'll get there in time," said Chitose who was smiling at the enthusiasm the blonde kid was showing.

"Really! I can't wait!" Naruto said aloud before setting his eyes back unto the castle.

Mikoshi, on the other hand, simply shook his head at the childish display. "Geez, you really are a kid."

Soon the boat docked on a wooden pier jutting off the riverbank and the party disembarked to continue their journey on foot into the city's busy streets. Before setting out, Mikoshi and Chitose had to carefully set their wide brimmed straw hats over their heads while both Itachi and Naruto once again took off the Leaf hite-ates from their foreheads for the obvious reason of hiding their identities from the public.

"There sure are a lot of people around." Naruto commented as the group made their way through the city's main avenue. The boy continually glanced around as they ventured farther into the city. The place was bustling full of activity with a large number of people sauntering about, peacefully living out their daily lives. Also, there were a number of shops and other establishments that were lined up on either side of the road, this being the city's commercial center and all. It reminded Naruto so much of Konoha.

"Naruto-kun, don't put your guard down," reminded Itachi.

"Why is that, Itachi-sensei?" The blonde asked looking up at the young jounin walking next to him. "Shouldn't it be safe now that we've arrive at the capital?"

"Remember, our mission does not end until we get Kanamori-sama and Idaho-san safely back to the palace. Even though we're already here at the capital, an attack from the group after the prince is still very much probable. Should that happen, protecting the clients is still our topmost priority." Itachi instructed.

"I got it! I'm going to protect Mikoshi and Chitose-neechan and make sure that they make it back to the palace safely! No nukenin is going to get past me because I'm the man who is going to become Hokage someday, Uzumaki Naru-ACK!" Naruto yelped for before he could finish bragging when an apple smacked painfully right against his face.

"Keep it down, moron." Mikoshi followed immediately after learning that the fruit he tossed backward over his shoulder had landed truthfully to its intended target.

"Why you—!" Naruto seethed. He was about to erupt in another loudmouthed tirade in retaliation but wasn't able to do so when Haku suddenly told him off.

"Naruto-kun, please keep your voice down. We can't afford to attract any more attention than we already are." The Mist hunter-nin reprimanded the genin. "If information that Konoha shinobis are escorting the young master leaks out, it could cause a lot of trouble."

Acknowledging that Haku had a point, Naruto did not argue and opt to obediently clamp his mouth shut, something that others found to be thoroughly surprising. The irritated blonde however had kept casting sideward glares towards the masked boy. It seems clear that he hadn't gone through his apparent dislike of the young hunter-nin just yet.

Meanwhile, Itachi had been sweeping through the crowd with his pair of quick, sharp eyes, scrutinizing every minute detail and feature in search for any telltale signs of threat lurking about. His eyes landed upon a suspicious looking character in a long black cloak with red cloud markings standing in front of a shop several yards away. Just like the clients, the man was also wearing a straw hat which concealed most of his face. However, his most striking feature was massive sword wrapped in bandages hanging on his back.

Turning his gaze towards the Konoha jounin, the man's face was suddenly marred with a feral and malevolent grin. The mysterious person then raised one hand and reached out for the handle of his sword though he did not proceed to pulling the massive blade out, just tilted it slightly. That small gesture was enough to send his message clearly across to the Uchiha heir.

'This guy…' Itachi thought inwardly, sensing the dangerous aura emanating off the man. There was no doubt about it. The guy was also a shinobi. 'I see. So the presence that's been following us since we left the boat was his.' Itachi had been pondering about this new revelation when all of a sudden the man had practically vanished right before his eyes. Surprised, the jounin quickly scanned the area where the man was once standing. There was absolutely no trace of his presence left behind making it seem as if he had never been there to begin with.

"Hmm? Sensei?" asked Naruto. Noticing the look on his sensei's usually expressionless face, the boy trailed his eyes to where Itachi was staring and his sight fell on a roadside dango shop nearby. Squinting, the kyuubi brat cast a disapproving glare directed at his jounin-sensei. "GRRRYAAAAH! Itachi-sensei you glutton! All that you ever think about was eating dango!" Naruto yelled angrily, a trembling finger pointed accusingly at the Uchiha.

Closing his eyes, Itachi took in one deep breath before opening them once again. That marked the completion of his transition back to his normal composed self. 'That was to be expected. It isn't strange for the enemy to send high-level shinobis considering the fact that their target is none other that the prince of the Water.' The jounin thought inwardly, turning his eyes gazing over towards Mikoshi.

Trailing behind the group, Haku nodded lightly in acknowledgement. It seems that the person who had caught Itachi's attention didn't escape him as well. And like the jounin, he too kept his silence and continued to act like nothing was wrong.

'Right now…' Itachi thought inwardly, this time focusing completely on the road ahead, not paying the slightest attention to Naruto's loud ranting about the reasons as to why ramen was ways better than dango. The loud blonde had been going on for quite some time that he was slowly garnering unwanted attention to himself from the people around. '…for us, making the first move isn't an option.'

"Shut up you moron!"

"OUCH!" Naruto yelped aloud after an irritated Mikoshi smacked him painfully in the head.

"Everyone, let's move faster." Itachi suddenly said.

Catching his sensei's instruction, Naruto stopped caressing the small bump that appeared just recently on his crown and, just like everyone else, nodded his assent. That's when he suddenly had an idea. "Hey everyone, let's have race and see who gets to the castle first!"

"Oi Naruto-kun wait—" Chitose called out but was already too late as the energetic blonde had already dashed further along the road leaving a trail of dust in his wake. All she could do was heave a small sigh while beside her Mikoshi was shaking his head.

"Geez, he never grows up," commented the prince.

* * *

The group finally made it to Takayama Castle however the sight that greeted them wasn't quite welcoming. The castle's massive gates which were usually open had been barred tight and its immediate vicinity guarded by a sizeable squad of heavily armed palace guards. 

"Hey. Are you sure this is the right place?" asked Naruto.

"STOP!" A burly man who looked like he had been squeezed forcefully into that tight fitting armor two sizes smaller emerged from the balcony above the gates. Standing proudly before the party, the man ran his eyes through each and every one of them. Given the number of tourists he had to drive away for the day he was particularly suspicious of the group and for quite understandable reasons since its members were composed of the idiot-looking blonde, the two people whose faces were hidden by the large straw hats over their heads, the young man in black with a somewhat arrogant look on his face and a Mist hunter-nin at back. Coughing his suspicions aside he began his announcement, "The Court is currently in session! Visiting the palace at this moment is prohibited! Turn around immediately and–"

"Shut up old man and let us through."

"What did you say!" The man growled obviously enraged by the blatant show of disrespect for authority. He fixed his beady eyes angrily at the thin boy at the middle. A grin of satisfaction formed over Mikoshi's lips after witnessing the annoyance he was causing the old soldier. "You there! State your name before I have the mind to have each and every one of you arrested and thrown in the dungeons!" The man demanded threateningly of the rude brat.

"Senile old man..." Mikoshi pulled off his hat revealing himself fully to the man before him. Faintly audible murmurings from the guards soon filled the air as the supposedly missing prince had just suddenly made an unexpected appearance. "Why don't you just go and retire already," he finished.

"Good morning, Aomori-sama. It's good to see you again." Chitose greeted, also revealing herself by casting the large hat aside. She then graced the plump old soldier with a smile.

"Y-young master…" The man, Aomori as Chitose called him, trembled in a mix of emotions dominated mostly by excitement and relief. Tears began to stream from his small eyes down to his rugged face as he spoke. Unable to contain himself, old man Aomori raced towards the prince only to forget that he was standing on a terrace meters high above the ground. Naruto, Mikoshi and Chitose all flinched as a huge cloud of dust erupted from the ground.

"Are you sure he's going to be alright?" asked Naruto

"Don't worry. He does that all the time," answered Mikoshi.

"I'm not so sure." Naruto was feeling highly doubtful. Both boys sprouted huge sweat drops at the back of their heads at the sight of the old man who down on the ground twitching in pain inside the wide foot-deep crater he himself had just unwittingly created.

A second look at Mikoshi and the old man seemed to have miraculously recovered as though nothing had happened. He raced forward and locked the prince in a tight bear hug. "Young master, where have you been! Everyone was so worried about you!"

"I-I c-can't breathe…" Mikoshi uttered gasping for air. The man's huge muscular arms not only impeded his oxygen supply but also threatened to break the prince's fragile looking body.

"Oh, that's right. You must have been tired from your journey." The man said finally releasing Mikoshi. He spun around and screamed so loud there's no way his voice wouldn't reach those on the other side of the gates. "Hey! What are you lazy morons doing! Open the gates now! The young master needs to rest!"

"YES SIR!"

Immediately, loud rumblings echoed through the air as the castle's massive gates started to swing open.

* * *

Somewhere within the castle, nobles from all over the Water have gathered forming the daimyo's Court. Here in this large spacious chamber was where many of the issues pressing the country were discussed and debated amongst the members of the aristocracy. This was also where all laws governing the land are created. Nobles were seated on the tatami covered floors in rows while on the slightly elevated throne at the far end of the room sat none other than the daimyo of the Water Country Kanamori Sanno. A man in his mid-forties, the elaborate outfit and headdress and the stern look on his face reflected the dignity and respect attributed by the position he held. 

"What is it?" The daimyo asked when an attendant approached him while in the middle of the session, his voice sounding strict.

The attendant quickly got next to the all important leader. She moved her head closer and whispered in his ear.

"I see." Kanamori Sanno got on his feet and without a word started for the door, his attendant trailing closely behind.

"Kanamori-sama?" Someone from the congregation asked.

"That will be all for today. You may leave." He instructed, addressing the entire chamber without so much as to turn his head around, continuing his march until he disappeared from the room.

* * *

"Ohh… so this is what the inside of a castle looks like. This is the first time I've been inside one." 

"Can't you keep quiet for once?"

Traversing a wide and seemingly endless hallway, the group was being lead by Mikoshi on a grand tour inside the huge castle. Every single person that they've met on their way, servants, guards, important guests and several members of the nobility, all bowed to show respect for the esteemed heir.

"I wonder what the daimyo is like." Naruto mused aloud. He was looking around marveling at the castle's beautifully decorated interior. Not just from the expensive antique furniture and displays, the place itself held an unmistakable air of elegance around it.

"We're about to meet my father so behave yourselves, especially that blonde moron over there." Mikoshi remarked snidely causing Naruto to send another murderous glare down at him, something that the prince ignored completely while he kept his eyes straight on the path ahead.

"Don't worry Naruto-kun. Sanno-sama is a nice person. I'm sure you'll like him." Chitose reassured, smiling at the blonde.

Suddenly, at that exact instance Mikoshi stopped dead on his tracks causing everyone else behind him to come to a halt. "Chichiue…" he uttered. Sure enough, standing before them just a couple of steps away was none other than the daimyo himself. He was flanked on both sides by two of his personal attendants.

Itachi, Haku and Chitose immediately lowered their heads before the daimyo's presence. Naruto also bowed just like the others but did so only after noticing that he was the only one aside from Mikoshi who had remained upright.

The daimyo eyed the group for a while before waving his hand gesturing everyone to stand up straight. He then proceeded to cast a stern look down at Mikoshi which prompted a prolonged moment of silence not just between father and son for everyone else present on the scene. A light feeling of tension filled the air. Finally, it was Mikoshi's father who broke the silence. "Idaho."

"H-hai."

"Take my son back to his room. He will have a press conference in two hours. I want you to make sure that he prepares for it." The daimyo ordered.

"Hai." Chitose responded, bowing once again.

"Chichiue, I…"

"Go." The daimyo lashed harshly at his son.

"Let's go, Ryuji-sama." Chitose said ushering the downhearted Mikoshi away.

Waiting until his son was out of sight, the daimyo once again settled his eyes at the three shinobis before him, "Shinobis from Konoha, follow me." He instructed. The daimyo turned his back at the group and started to head down the corridor.

"I shall be taking my leave then. Itachi-san, Naruto-kun, good luck," Haku said before turning heel and walking the opposite direction leaving the two Leaf shinobis on their own.

Itachi and Naruto trailed after the daimyo and were granted the privilege of being lead into his own private reception room – a place that was reserved only for foreign dignitaries and personalities of very high position and importance. The room in itself wasn't that large, just enough to comfortably hold a couple of visitors. Aside from the low chair where Itachi supposed that the daimyo seated and the paintings hanging on the walls the place was basically devoid of any other nonessential things giving it the illusion of having twice as much space as it already had.

The place reminded Itachi of a similar room back in his residence in Konoha which also served a similar purpose. However, aside from being a place where guests were entertained, it was where his father tells him of the clan's great expectations as well as the goals that were made for him to accomplish all for the greater good of the Uchiha name. Most of all, it reminded him of his place as the clan's useful connection. But he was over that now. He had already delegated the post to his younger brother, Sasuke.

"Sit."

The daimyo's voice snapped the Uchiha off his reverie. Already the daimyo has been seated while his two attendants sat by the floor next to him. Itachi obediently sat down on the tatami under his feet and was fully expecting his student to do the same however instead Naruto took several steps forward and…

"Harken unto me! Harken unto me! I was born and raised in the Country of Fire's Hidden Village of Konoha. I love to eat at Ichiraku. Also known as the village's number one genius ninja who will one day become hokage, I am the great Uzumaki Naruto-sama!" Naruto said, reciting his dialogue with an unmistakable kabukiage tone and finishing with a rather weird pose. "Daimyo-sama, it's an honor to make your acquaintance!"

An awkward silence suddenly filled the room as Itachi, the attendants, even the daimyo were left completely speechless.

'Ha! Looks like they were all taken by my beautiful speech! Even the daimyo must think what a super cool genius ninja I am! Hehehe… Naruto you're incredible! You really are the greatest!' Naruto mentally snickered, congratulating himself for a job well done.

The period of silence and the looks everyone was giving him however signaled something that was quite the opposite.

"Sit down before you further embarrass Konoha and yourself." Itachi said, further adding insult to the injury. That remark gave Naruto the realization that none of the occupants of the room found his self-introductory speech and dance appealing. That resulted in a dejected Naruto plopping himself sadly on the floor.

The daimyo cleared his throat loudly. It was a sign saying that the time for fun and games was over. It's now time for serious talk. "Hmm. Honestly I've never imagined Hokage-sama to send such young shinobis to be the escorts of my son. Old Sarutobi must have high regards for the both of you." He started.

"Thank you very much for your kind words." Itachi replied, bowing once again.

"Before we proceed, there's something that I want you to answer truthfully. I'd like you to tell me what you think about my son Ryuji." The daimyo asked. "You've spent enough time with him traveling from Konoha all the way here to the Water. I just wanted to know what your opinions are about him."

Itachi took some time to organize his thoughts before speaking out. "I personally think Ryuji-sama is an intelligent man. Also, from our travels I found him to exhibit qualities that would qualify him as an excellent leader. With all due respect, I think he is a worthy successor to the throne since he clearly has the capacity to lead the Water and its citizens."

The daimyo nodded once after hearing Itachi's feedback. He then turned his attention to the boy sitting next to the Konoha jounin. "And you young lad, what do you think?"

"Hmm…" Naruto sounded, crossing his arms over his chest while he gave the question some serious thought. Several scenes from his journey with the prince flashed before the boy, from their disastrous first encounter back at Konoha's, pass the several attempts at Mikoshi's life, their little stay at the hot springs and the time when they've finally managed to reach their destination upon setting foot on the castle gates.

"I don't know about Mikoshi. Sure he's stupid, arrogant, selfish, vain, bossy, a moron, and is a great big jerk most of time." Naruto pondered aloud. "Also, he really is an absolute bastard."

Intrigued, the daimyo had arched an eyebrow after hearing such a bold and blatantly disrespectful comment about his son. Itachi, for his part, had been casting a disapproving look sideways at the blonde. More than what his expressions show, the young jounin was actually feeling awfully embarrassed for the things his student had just said. As shinobis, they also act as representatives of Konoha and the way Naruto had been acting before the daimyo had certainly brought great shame on their village.

"But he can certainly be reliable at times so all in all I guess he's an okay guy." The blonde finished, vehemently nodding his head up and down to emphasize his point.

A loud laughter suddenly echoed throughout the room. Naruto quickly snapped his eyes open and realized that the laughter was coming from none other that the daimyo himself. That caused confusion to settle over both Konoha shinobis, mostly to Naruto who had glance over questioningly at his sensei. After a whole minute Kanamori-sama had stopped laughing, just as abruptly as that when he had started, and settled his eyes gravely at the blonde. The look he gave unnerved the kid.

'Great! Now I've really done it! The daimyo is probably going to have me executed!' thought a panicking Naruto who was now heavily sweating, trembling in fear. Various torture scenes and other horrible forms of suffering with him as the victim played wildly with his imagination. 'I'm going to die!'

The next line that followed was something that no one in the room had expected.

"I like you." The daimyo told Naruto. "Of all the people that I've ask personally you're actually the first one who ever had the guts to comment about those negative traits of my baka of a son." He then flashed a hearty smile at the foxy brat. "And I like people with guts."

Hearing those, Naruto finally heaved a sigh of relief. He welcomed the knowledge that he won't be placed in line for execution anymore. However, his relief was immediately replaced with surprise when the daimyo suddenly began to cry out loud.

"What! What have I done wrong to deserve such a delinquent son! I've done everything I can to raise him into a fine young man yet why!" The daimyo wailed his misery, totally unashamed of the unsightly behavior he was showing his guests.

'What's wrong with this guy? Early on he was standing all high and mighty, dignified daimyo and all then the next thing he's been reduced to an old wreck of a crybaby,' was the thought that swam through Naruto's mind as he watched the unsightly scene. Suddenly, the daimyo reached out and grabbed both of his shoulders giving the blonde quite a bit of a shock.

"You understand, don't you? You definitely understand, don't you!" The daimyo asked, shaking Naruto with all his might. Tears were generously pouring like waterfalls from his eyes. Meanwhile in the background the attendants were sniffing, wiping dry the tears in their eyes for they too shared their master's pain.

"Y-yeah… I guess so…" Naruto stuttered in response as the sweat drop at the back of his head grew bigger. 'Really, this place is full of weirdos.'

* * *

"HAACHOOO—!" Mikoshi sniffed and rubbed his nose. "For some strange reason my nose feels kinda itchy." 

"Maybe there are people somewhere talking nice things about Ryuji-sama,"

Mikoshi, who was standing before a full body-size mirror, saw Chitose from the reflections as she entered his private chamber. She was carrying with her the prince's royal costume and headdress which he was to use for the press conference later that day.

"Yeah right," The boy sneered while untying the strap around his waist. He then allowed the bathrobe to fall freely on the floor leaving himself naked down to the pair of boxers covering his privates. "If that were true then I would have been sneezing and slobbering snot all over the place non-stop since the day I was born."

Chitose positioned herself behind the prince and helped him put on the first of the multi-layered ceremonial robe that he'd be wearing for the press conference later that afternoon. For the entire time both occupants of the room were engulfed in silence, not one uttering a single word.

"From what I've heard," It was Chitose who broke the silence while she was helping Mikoshi put on the final layer of his royal kimono, "Itachi-san and Naruto-kun plans to head back to Konoha immediately after their talk with your father Sanno-sama."

"I see…" Mikoshi said softly. From the mirror, he saw a small grin forming on Chitose's lips arousing both his curiosity and annoyance. "What?"

"Nothing."

"Say it. It bothers me." The prince pressed on.

"H-hai." Chitose nodded obediently. "I see that Ryuji-sama is fond of Naruto-kun."

"What makes you say that?" Mikoshi's face flushed which he quickly contorted into a frown in a lame effort to hide his embarrassment. "Hmph! Just to let you know, I totally hate that brat. He's so loud and noisy, dumb and totally useless! I hate idiots like that!"

Chitose didn't say anything though she continued to snicker silently, pursing her lips to muffle the sound, while straightening up and putting the final touches on Mikoshi's outfit.

"You know…" Mikoshi offered, dropping the facade. "It's just that I haven't even got to say goodbye to them properly. After everything that we've been through together these past few days… for giving their best for my sake, that was the least that I could do."

Understanding her ward's feelings, Chitose smiled and placed a comforting hand on top of Mikoshi's head. "Please don't be sad, Ryuji-sama. You'll definitely see each other again. It won't be long, I'm sure of it."

"…I know." Mikoshi finally cracked a smile himself. "But I wish that at least I could have thanked them personally for a job well done." Examining himself thoroughly in the mirror and after finding the work on his clothes satisfying, Mikoshi whipped around and started for the door carrying with him the dignified air of the Water Country's true heir. "Let's go."

* * *

"Ne ne, Itachi-sensei, can I go sightseeing first?" asked Naruto as the two slowly made their way out of the palace. "I wanna walk around and take a good look of the city first before we go home. Besides, now that the mission is complete we don't have anything else to do right? Right?" 

The stoic teenager nodded. "We'll rest for the day and head out for Konoha first thing tomorrow morning. You may take the rest of the day off and do as you please."

"Yatta! Arigatou Itachi-sensei!" The blonde rejoiced, throwing both arms high into the air. "Then it's settled! Yosh, I'm going to have so much fun today!"

Soon the two Konoha shinobis emerged from the castle's huge front doors heading for the gates. Walking slowly along the stoned pathway, they saw a familiar hunter-nin, greenish kimono and white full-face mask, standing alone in the middle of the courtyard.

"Haku?"

"Oh everyone, I see that you're done meeting with the daimyo. So how did you find him?" Haku said to the two approaching shinobis.

"Well, it was fine," answered Naruto. "At first I was nervous. The daimyo was strict and scary but soon it appeared that he was a really nice guy, exactly like what Chitose-neechan said. I just didn't expect him to have a weird side to him, though."

"I see. That's good to hear."

"And what are you doing here standing all alone?" It was Itachi who asked.

"Nothing special. I was just waiting for you guys."

The hunter-nin's casual answer caused Itachi to raise an eyebrow. Haku was quick to catch on to what the young Uchiha was thinking and quickly went to dispel his suspicions. "I just wanted to express my gratitude for helping protect our prince. That means a lot to us. In behalf of the Hidden Mist Village and the Water Country, Itachi-san, Naruto-kun…" Haku bowed, "…arigatou gozaimasu."

Naruto and Itachi exchanged glances following the hunter-nin's gesture.

"That was our job. There was no need for you to thank us," said Itachi.

"Really." Naruto seconded nodding vehemently. "But you gotta admit that I was super cool during the mission! I really showed that no-eyebrows and that chain bastard who's boss!" The blonde continued boasting shamelessly, going into a tirade of how good he was and how he's going to be hokage.

"Man, I kicked so much ass I – huh?" A pair of hands suddenly grasping each of his shoulders caused Naruto to stop midway through his speech. Looking up he came face to face with Haku.

"Naruto-kun, ganbatte," said the hunter-nin.

Naruto blinked both in surprise and confusion. He didn't know where this came from nor did he expect it coming.

"I hope that you'll be able to realize your dream someday."

Naruto's eyes shone after hearing those words. For the boy who was used to being ignored or talked down to, hearing someone tell you to do your best and whishing for your dreams to come true came as a much welcome change. It felt rather heartwarming.

"Yeah," the blonde responded. He could feel Haku smile from behind that white mask of his.

Haku then took his hands off Naruto. "I'll be taking my leave then. I still have a few appearances and reports to make. Please excuse me." He once more lowered his head in a polite gesture before walking past the duo as he went in his way towards the castle.

"Yosh! I'm going to do my best and work harder!" A very lively Naruto said aloud. Next to him, Itachi turned his gaze towards Haku, watching over the Mist hunter-nin's back intently with a pair of dark, wary eyes.

* * *

Naruto was found wandering along the city streets later that day. He had already left his entire luggage back at the cheap inn he and Itachi found earlier. Armed with nothing but a travel pamphlet and a map, the blonde was out on a quest to tour around as much of the city's sightseeing places as he can for the remainder of the day. 

"Hmm… perfect to visit especially during autumn… hosts some exceptional locations for relaxing under the changing leaves… a good place to unwind with nature…" Naruto read aloud whilst shifting gazes between the pamphlet and the map. "Let's see. It says turn right on this corner and move straight ahead…"

Five blocks and several wrong turns later and Naruto arrived at his first destination: Takayama-shi's largest and most famous park, Oomori Park. "Wow! It's pretty!" The blonde exclaimed after being met with a scenery colored in shades of red. Not just the hundreds of trees and bushes but the ground was also colored red with layers of fallen leaves covering the grasses that used to occupy the area for most of the year. Occasional gusts of wind send leaves flying through the air adding to the relaxing autumn atmosphere.

"The place seems pretty full." Naruto commented noting the good number of visitors relaxing under the trees, whole families taking leisurely strolls, couples walking lovingly with their hands held together, and picnic goers partying the time away. It was to be expected though since he came during the peak of the season, the time when visitors flock the park by the dozens.

His eyes were then pegged upon the lovers that seem to have dominated the numbers among the park's visitor population. 'Ah Someday I should take Sakura-chan on a date here. Then she'd definitely say 'yes' to me after that and then…" He thought inwardly, his imagination moving into high gear. "Hehehe" Blushing furiously, Naruto was giggling so hard he didn't even notice that he was already catching the confounded looks of the people around.

'Huh? I wonder what that is.' Glancing around as he went on, Naruto saw something that caught his attention. The blonde walked over towards the large stone sculpture of what looked like a giant megaphone. The statue was placed at the center of the platform elevated several meters above the huge man-made lake – one of Oomori Park's main attractions. His curiosity doubled when he saw people making a beeline towards the small end of the stone megaphone and shouting at the top of their lungs.

"Ne, oneechan, what are those guys doing?" Naruto asked the young woman that came nearest to him.

"Oh that. They are shouting their wishes."

"Wishes?"

"Yes, wishes." The woman repeated. "It is said that if go shout your heart's desires through that monument they will surely come true."

"Really! Is that true!" Naruto exclaimed aloud, his face was beaming with excitement. "Will my wish really come true!"

The woman smiled heartily at kid. "Well, you wouldn't know if don't try."

Without having a second thought, Naruto dashed towards the stone monument. "Thank you oneechan!" He called out as he went, waving his arm vigorously at the nice young woman. Quickly, Naruto moved to the end of the megaphone. He took a deep breath, placed both hands on each side of his mouth and shouted with all his might, "I WANT TO BECOME HOKAGE!"

Naruto was on wide smiles afterwards. "Iyaaah that felt good." He was still on high heavens when something small with green hair suddenly collided on his side causing both the blonde and whoever that was to crash painfully unto the wooden floor.

"Ouch—" moaned the small boy who was about the age of five. He was caressing his temple when a hand shot from out of nowhere and grabbed his shirt. The next thing the poor kid knew he was already pulled face to face with a pissed Naruto.

"Watch where the heck you're going, you moron! You just ruined my good mood, you idiot!" Naruto screamed angrily at the kid's face. Tears began to swell at the corner of the little boy's eyes and his body started to tremble as he was just too terrified of the raging blonde whose face he could feel steaming.

Suddenly, something cold and sticky struck the back of Naruto's head. Feeling his crown with a free hand, he found that what hit him was ice cream. Fuming, Naruto whipped around and found the perpetrator to be a girl around the same age as Konohamaru.

"Hey you! What do you think you're doing to my little brother!" The short pigtailed girl shouted at him. As Naruto loosened his grip on his shirt, the boy quickly escaped to hide behind his sister's back.

"HA! Brats like that with no manners deserve to be taught a lesson!" Naruto snorted.

"Shut up you moron! Nobody messes around with my brother but me!" The girl pointed proudly at herself. "Ready!" She raised her hand and four boys her age flanked her on both sides, each one having a cone of ice cream in hand. "FIRE!" At the girl's command, the kids all threw their ice creams at Naruto before making a run for it.

Wiping the disgusting mess off his face, Naruto saw the girl stuck her tongue at him. "Bleh! You're it!" She said before turning heel and dashing away with her friends.

That caused the throbbing knots of nerves on his forehead to multiply both in size and number. "GRRR!" Naruto sounded, shaking furiously as a deadly aura began to emanate off him. "Come back here you punks! I'm going to kill you all!" He screamed starting to give chase.

* * *

Alone in the vast cloudless blue skies, a majestic falcon was soaring high above the city circling around in search of one particular person amongst the thousands that crowd the bustling metropolis. That didn't come to be a problem though as several moments later the bird began its sharp descend. It swooped down towards one among a tightly packed cluster of buildings around the area, continuing on towards an open window on the fourth floor. 

'A message at this time?' The room's only occupant curiously went towards the bird that had perched itself on the window sill, opened its backpack and took out a scroll bearing the red and white fan insignia of the Uchiha Clan. Itachi broke the seal and spread the scroll open and as expected the message inside was written using the clan's special encryption that even members would take some time to decipher. Itachi, however, read the words without having any difficulty at all as if they were written in plain letters. A few moments later and the Uchiha prodigy rolled the scroll back.

Itachi took some time to carefully consider the contents of the message. His contemplation was rudely interrupted when he felt an intense killing intent that suddenly filled the surrounding air and sure enough when he stared outside the window towards its apparent source his eyes widened upon seeing two missiles of white water streaking towards the room at incredible speeds.

Looking out from the rooftop of a building a hundred meters away, the tall man dressed in a black cape cracked a smile under the shadow of his straw hat. He watched in satisfaction at the sight of the rapidly growing cloud of dust rising from the partly demolished building. He then raised his right hand grabbed the hilt of the huge sword covered in bandages hanging on his back in anticipation.

Several moments later Itachi streaked out of the dust cloud unscathed. Landing on the roof of an adjacent building, he continued leaping from rooftop to rooftop heading towards his attacker. The young jounin narrowed his eyes and the pupils that were once black turned deep red, "Sharingan," he silently called out activating his bloodline limit.

The cloaked shinobi quickly pulled his sword and slashed Itachi as soon as he got within range. The force from the blow dealt threw the Uchiha back. Blood sprayed out from the large slash wound that spread across his torso. The attack may have connected successfully but the enemy wasn't one to be fooled. Twisting his sword, he spun around and struck two Itachi clones that appeared on either sides of him.

That was when something strange began to happen.

The three struck down bodies of Itachi that were slowly on their way to falling down started to break apart turning into several black masses. The black masses slowly changed figure to become birds that began to circle around the cloaked man leaving him confused. As time went on the flying shadows grew wider and wider in size and soon enough the man found himself engulfed in absolute darkness. "Not bad for a kid," he said for at that moment a kunai was hovering dangerously close to his throat. Standing behind him was none other than the revered heir of the Uchiha.

"Who are you?" asked Itachi. There was venom in his voice.

"Hoshigaki Kisami. Nice to make your acquaintance."

"And what do you do want?"

Kisami turned his gaze to the left and found a second Itachi standing there with a kunai pointed against his face. Without having any change in expressions despite the difficult predicament he was currently in, Kisame still managed to speak calmly. "So you're the one who fought against Zabuza. Hehe, the kid didn't seem to take that too well after you completely crushed him. The fool's been itching to give you a payback." He chuckled.

"I won't repeat myself," said a third Itachi who, this time, appeared on his right.

"Hmph! Assertive, aren't we?"

One of the Itachi clones saw blood dripping from Kisame's hand that was currently holding the hilt of the bandaged sword. Acting on instinct, the jounin pulled away just when the enemy suddenly threw out a full swing with his massive blade. Unfortunately for Itachi, his reaction came a split-second too late for the attack had managed to create a small shallow cut on his chest while his two clones took the full force of the hit and were cleaved cleanly in half. As for Kisame, the darkness started to fade away along with the remnants of Itachi's fake bodies while sensations from the real world slowly returned to him. Itachi landed safely several feet away and quickly resumed a battle ready stance. "I see that you've managed to free yourself from the genjutsu."

"You should've known from the start that petty tricks such as that won't work against me." The cloaked man boasted.

Digesting everything that he's heard so far prompted Itachi to come to a conclusion. "You said Zabuza's name earlier. That must mean that you work under the same group as him or at least have the same motives as him."

Kisame merely shrugged. "Who knows?"

"I see…" Itachi tightened his grip on the kunai. "I'm sorry but I can't allow you leave this place freely. You're coming with me."

Paces away, Kisame held his sword with both hands and raised it at the ready. A thick and deadly air filled the rooftop as both shinobis spent a few moments staring at each other, carefully sizing the opponent's overall strength and battle prowess. Itachi was about to make the first move when the missing-nin spoke again.

"Let's move to a more appropriate location where we can have our chat in peace."

Looking past the young Uchiha and out into the horizon, five figures can be seen leaping from roof to roof as they made their advance. Those must have been Kirigakure shinobis based on the capital that were alerted by the blast and were now fast moving in on their location. Not bothering to wait for the black haired teen's response, the missing-nin leapt high into the air with the intention of moving away following the same direction as the shinobi reinforcements were heading.

"You won't get away." Itachi clasped both hands, forming a series of hand seals in a blink of an eye before taking a deep breath. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

Floating above, Kisame glanced behind and saw a massive sphere of hot glowing flames fast headed his way. "Devour it, Samehada!" The missing-nin made a quick spin and hacked away at the huge fireball. Unbelievably, as the blade made contact with the flames it began to absorb them at an astounding rate. A second later and most of the fireball had been eaten away by the Samehada, its coverings were completely burned off exposing the blade's rugged texture. The blade itself was moving spasmodically giving the impression as though it were actually chewing unto something while at the same time emitting sickening sounds of gnawing and gnashing. Meanwhile, the remnants of the fire attack that Samehada hadn't eaten away were left to be dispersed harmlessly into the surrounding air.

The sudden gusts created by the midair clash caused the straw hat to be blown away revealing to Itachi for the first time Kisame's features. His appearance had a somewhat shark-like resemblance to it. The thing, however, that Itachi mostly took notice was the hite-ate tied around his forehead. It had a long slash that curiously ran over symbol of the Hidden Mist Village extending to almost end to end of the metal plate. Kisame cast a provocative grin down at the youth below before continuing on his way.

Not allowing himself to be aggravated by any means, Itachi also leapt into air to give pursuit.

* * *

"Where the heck are those brats hiding?" Naruto mumbled irritably. He had been scouring the park for quite some time now and still hadn't found a single one. How was it that six little kids were able to hide from a full pledged shinobi? Naruto gave the question some serious thought and came up with two possible answers. One was that the kids knew the park's best hiding places and terrain by heart that they can slip past him unnoticed. The other was that he was just extremely stupid. 

"That's it!" Naruto yelled in frustration. "No more Mr. Nice Guy! It's time to get serious and show those snot-nosed brats the power of 'Ninja Hokage Naruto'!" That said, Naruto dug through his pocket and pulled out his trusty green goggles. Since he was particularly forbidden from wearing his hite-ate while they're still in the Water he'd just have to settle for this one. He went and placed them around his forehead just like how he always does back during his academy days. "Alright! Ninja Hokage Naruto, GO!" Naruto broke into a dash determined more than ever to catch and punish the insolent kids who dare disrespect Konoha's 'future Hokage'.

Finally putting all those months' worth of harsh training under Itachi-sensei's wing to good use, Naruto was able to locate the brats one after another. The first person that he found was the girl's little brother who, being the smallest of the group, had hidden himself inside a broken vending machine that appeared to sparkling new on the outside. At first the green haired kid tried to struggle when the foxy boy pulled him out but complied nonetheless after Naruto threatened to drop the whole vending machine into the lake.

With his first prisoner in tow, Naruto next found the boy who wittingly hid under the lake using a thin bamboo stick to breath. Grinning slyly, Naruto plugged the end of the stick with a finger. A few moments later and the kid emerged from the water gasping for air. Stepping up on his search efforts, he found the three other kids well hidden under the most inconspicuous places.

"Ha! Only one more left!" Naruto was currently traversing the densely forested area at the eastside of the park tagging along with him his five prisoners, each one linking hands with one another forming a chain.

"You better give up 'Evil Ninja' coz you won't find my oneechan!" squeeked the green-haired boy.

"Yeah! Yuki-chan is the best! You can't catch her!" piped another boy.

"Shut up you brats! I'm going to catch that girl and then I'm going to make all of you suffer hell! BWAHAHAHA!" Naruto yelled at the kids laughing off in a perfectly evil and sinister fashion.

"NO! Oneechan will rescue us! Just you wait!"

"Fool! Like that'll happen!" Naruto's ears perked up when he heard some rustling on the bushes upfront. Pulling his charges with him, the blonde dashed forward and scanned the shrubs expectant only to find out much to his disappointment that what was hiding there was, "Tsk. Just a rabbit."

"Wow! It's pure white! The rabbit's pure white!" The little kid piped. "Kawaii"

"Enough of that," interrupted Naruto. "Alright peons, let's go thi—"

"HAYAAH—!"

Naruto's eyes grew as wide as saucers in shock for when he turned to face his prisoners, the missing girl jumped out appearing from his blind side and chopped down on his and her little brother's linked hands severing the chain. The kids then all broke in a frenzy running as fast as they can away from the stunned Naruto.

"How's that! My cute rabbit sneak attack and rescue operation!" The girl boasted.

"Hey! That's cheating! Prisoners can't run away once they're caught!" An indignant Naruto yelled out as soon as the stupor from the sneak attack had worn off.

"Says who! It's in the rules! Breaking the chain frees everyone!" The girl told him while making her escape. The only thing poor Naruto could do at that time was seethe in frustration.

"Fine! You are sooo dead this time, you cheating bitch!" He screamed angrily as he gave chase yet again.

* * *

"How are you feeling Zabuza-san?" 

Momochi Zabuza, who was currently recuperating in his bed, turned gaze when he heard the door click open. Standing by the doorway was a beautiful girl. "I see that you're finally back."

The girl fully entered the room, leaving the door ajar to allow ample light to invade the nukenin's dark and gloomy chamber, her long, jet-black hair flowing in the air in her wake.

"So, how did things go?" asked Zabuza.

"You should avoid thinking about worrisome things. Right now you shouldn't strain yourself too much, Zabuza-san. Please concentrate on your own health and take ample rest. Stress and exhaustion will only prolong your stay in sickbed," the woman reminded him. She whipped out a chair and took her seat next to Zabuza's bedside. "You can relax. I'll handle all the necessary preparations."

The missing-nin remained still and quiet in his bed.

Without another word, the girl pulled the blanket away and began to give a careful eye at the full extent of the man's injuries. She was totally unfazed by the fact that the man was completely naked underneath the covers and continued with her examination. "The wounds seem to be healing perfectly well. I guess three days of rest should do it and Zabuza-san will be back on his feet feeling good as new."

"That long?"

"Well, it's a good thing that you didn't take too much damage from that fight." The girl offered while she began undressing the bandages around Zabuza's body. "Going against that genius Uchiha Itachi and having our sharingan-counter strategy fail miserably. It was almost a miracle that you escaped with only minor injuries."

"Uchiha Itachi." The Mist nukenin said the name in contempt. "I'm going to get him back for what he did to me. Him and that little brat, I'll make them pay."

"Now, now, Zabuza-san you shouldn't think about worrisome things. Like I said, you should go concentrate on healing yourself." The girl reprimanded him. She cast the used bandages into a trash bin and proceeded to rub ointment she made herself unto the man's wounds to hasten the healing. "The real plan will be put into execution in a week's time. You need to be in full health before then. I suggest you should put Uchiha Itachi aside for now and once you're done recovering then we can finally set our minds back to the more important task at hand."

"I know."

After finishing putting in some medicine, next on the list was to wrap the wounds with fresh, clean bandages. "By the way, I haven't seen Kisame-san around. Is he out?" the girl asked.

"Yeah. He said he wanted to pay a certain someone a visit."

"I see." The girl nodded lightly. "Let's just hope that Kisame-san doesn't overexert himself. He can barely restrain himself especially when he's fired up."

Zabuza snorted. "Knowing him, he probably already did."

"True." The girl said, drawing a sweet, serene smile across her beautiful face.

* * *

Itachi found himself standing at the middle the same river that they had previously traversed on their way into the capital. This was the place where he had curiously lost track of the nukenin despite the fact that the place was a wide expanse of open area with no obstructions whatsoever. The Konoha jounin was currently scanning through the surroundings when he felt a sudden surge in killing intent. Instinctively, Itachi jumped away for the waters he was standing on a split second ago erupted violently upon the emergence of Kisame. Wasting no time, Kisame rushed towards Itachi. 

Seeing this, Itachi, who was still in midair, twisted his body and blew a number of smaller fireballs directed at the charging nukenin. "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!"

Kisame simply hacked through the fire attacks while continuing on his assault. The young jounin's foot had barely touched the surface of the water when the attack came forcing him to block the giant blade with his kunai. Their weapons interlocked for a short moment. A confident grin curled up Kisame's lips after which he began channeling more force into his sword.

'…strong…' Itachi couldn't handle the sharp increase in power and was sent staggering backwards.

"Right now I have no interest in going after that brat…" said Kisame pertaining to the jounin's former client. Pressing on his advantage, the nukenin showered Itachi with a continuous barrage of slashes and strikes from Samehada. Itachi managed to dodge most of the attacks but with every blow that he had to block, Itachi was pushed a couple meters back as the other ninja simply outclassed him as much as physical strength is concerned.

"…so don't think about anything at the moment…" Kisame threw another massive swing that Itachi was again forced to block which in effect knocked him several paces back. Upon landing on his feet, Itachi returned his gaze forward and quickly realized that the enemy was again nowhere to be found. Noticing the shadow that was slowly growing wider under his feet, the Uchiha turned above and found the missing nukenin fast raining down on him. "…and just concentrate on having fun with me!"

The power from the clashing blades created a strong shockwave that ripped through the river's calm waters. Several droplets of blood flew through the air along with water that was displaced following the recent exchange. Kisame and Itachi stood paces away in silence, both shinobis facing the opposite direction as the other.

"I now see why that kid Zabuza lost to you." It was Kisame who broke the silence. Floating on the surface of the water was the severed left sleeve from his black cloak. "Well then, I guess I have to start getting a bit serious about this fight." The mist nukenin said, shrugging nonchalantly as he turned to face Itachi once again. For his part, Itachi chose not to say anything and returned into battle ready stance.

Submerging part of his sword into the water, the river which was once calm began to turn rough, worsening only with each passing second. Forming a half seal with his left hand, an unmistakable bluish glow surrounded Kisame's body as he molded insane amounts chakra and channeled them into the water under his feet. "Suiton…" Kisame gripped the hilt of his sword with both hands and swung Samehada upwards in full force. "Suishouha!"

Itachi readied himself as a five-storey tall wall of water came rushing at high speeds towards him. Kisame leapt high up and landed atop the wall of water, riding the roaring tsunami as it made its rapid advance. Soon the gigantic wave loomed overhead threatening to crush the Leaf jounin with its raw power. In his descend, Kisame had Samehada raised high ready for the strike while below Itachi remained rooted in his place, unfazed and determined to meet the attack head on.

"DIE!" Kisame screamed from the top of his lungs as he made his attack. The sound from the resulting explosion drowned the sounds from the ongoing battle.

Itachi struggled to regain proper orientation after the strain from being shoved several feet underwater at forces amounting to several G's momentarily knocked off his senses. Back on the surface of the river, Kisame released Samehada, clasped both hands forming a series of hand seals first before extending his right hand into the water. Itachi, on the other hand, saw everything the Mist nukenin was doing from a distance and with the use of his sharingan was able to perfectly replicate the enemy's movements.

"Suiton: Goshokuzame!"

'Suiton: Goshokuzame!'

Five jets shot out from both shinobis' outstretched hand, one coming the tip of each finger, each morphing into the shape and size of that of a great white shark. The shark-like projections attacked and annihilated one another causing another massive blast to once again rip through the waterway. After everything finally calmed down, the unmoving body of Itachi was seen floating face down into the water.

"Hmph! How disappointing," Kisame, resting Samehada over his shoulder, eyed the dead body with disgust. "I can't believe I went out of my way to fight such a weakling."

"I've always said this before…" Startled, Kisame whipped around and was shocked to find Itachi standing several paces away, alive and well. Meanwhile, the Leaf jounin's unmoving body burst in a small puff of white smoke which after clearing was revealed to be nothing more than a piece of cut log. "…don't judge others by your preconceptions and their appearance."

"So you do have some good stuff inside you. Sorry if I mistook you for some random pretty boy –all face no brains and no talent." Kisame pulled his sword back at the ready. "This time I'll make sure to shave that annoying face first."

Itachi only had one word to say in return for all that taunting. "Come."

Seething in rage, Kisame wasn't able to hold himself and charged full speed towards the young man. "I'll wipe that arrogance off your ass!" He soon reached the Uchiha, who hadn't move an inch, and smite Samehada down the arrogant boy with all the strength he could muster. Itachi lifted his left hand at the exact moment and caught Kisame's hand, much to the nukenin's surprise, completely stopping the attack. He then turned his red eyes straight into Kisame's.

"I told you it won't work!" The Mist nin easily recognized the attack pattern and quickly channeled massive amounts of chakra throughout his body to neutralize the genjutsu before it takes effect. The consequence however was that it took a precious second off his reaction time allowing Itachi to land a sharp knee to the gut, an elbow to the back of the neck, a straight uppercut, and finishing the combo was a full roundhouse kick to the face that propelled the missing-nin into skidding backwards against the water's surface.

Kisame managed to recover back to his feet sliding to a full stop. When he raised his head, however, what greeted him was a swarm of razor sharp kunais flying in his direction.

"Kunai Kagebunshin no Jutsu," announced the Uchiha prodigy.

Even with the great number of kunais, one swing from Samehada was all it took for the seasoned swordsman to deflect every single one of them.

"Bakuhatsu."

Kisame's eyes widened when all of a sudden the deflected kunais that were currently floating around him exploded all at once. Each one of these kunai shadow clones had the power of one explosive tag creating a combined effect of an explosion equivalent to that of setting off a thousand's worth at exactly the same time. Fortunately, Kisame was able to cast Suijinheki around himself. Though the protective jutsu did not completely blocked the explosion off it was able buffer most of the damage allowing the missing-nin to come out suffering only minor injuries.

That, however, wasn't the end Itachi's offensive. Clasping his hands together forming the hitsuji seal and silently uttering, "Kai," the Uchiha practically disappeared in a sudden burst of ungodly speed. Meanwhile, inside the huge thick cloud of black smoke that surrounded him as a result of that explosion, Kisame was left blinded and completely defenseless to receive the full force of Itachi's upward kick aimed at his jaw sending the nukenin skyrocketing high into the air.

Emerging from the cloud of smoke, the bright sunlight returned Kisame's vision with the irony of informing him that the Uchiha was now hovering overhead. 'Fast!' It was then that the nukenin noticed that Itachi's hands were forming the tora seal, the common final hand seal in the seal sequence for any fire element-based ninjutsu.

"Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu!" A bright tongue of flames shaped that of a dragon blew out of the Uchiha's mouth. The fire dragon ruthlessly dragged along with it the poor nukenin's body as it made its dive straight into river below.

* * *

"Man, I'm beat." Yuki-chan said, plopping herself on one of the benches next to the park's playground. It was already sun down when they decided to call it quits. No wonder everyone was so tired since they spent the whole afternoon running around. 

"But we had fun." One of the boys in the group followed. He and Yuki's brother relaxed on the swing while the other two opted to sit on the top of the slide.

"Yeah."

"Oh, it's Evil Ninja!" The green-haired boy beamed pointing at a dirty looking Naruto that had just emerged from behind the bushes. "Evil Ninja! Over here!"

Naruto moved over to where the exhausted kids where and eyed each and every one of them with scrutiny. "Hmph!" He huffed, arms crossed over his chest. "Don't tell me that you're tired already from just that? C'mon! Let's have one more go!"

"Don't be so full of yourself. Of course we're tired. We're just kids after all." The pigtailed girl said casually, waving him off.

"Che, weaklings." The foxy boy snorted helping himself to a seat next to Yuki.

"Ne ne Evil Ninja."

Naruto glanced down after hearing that squeaky voice and found the green haired kid standing before him. "Huh? What do you want?" the blonde asked.

The little boy raised his hand and pointed at Naruto's face. "That thing on your head, it looks so cool! Just like a ninja!"

"This?" asked Naruto, tapping the goggles around his forehead.

"Umn!" The boy nodded. "Where did you get it? I wanna have one too!"

"Heh." Naruto sounded smugly. "I can't tell you."

"Ehhh! No fair!"

The blonde noticed the pleading look that the boy was giving his. More than that, he noticed the tears that were once again forming at the corner of his eyes. Heaving a sigh, Naruto leaned forward moving closer. "You know why I can't tell you?"

"Why?" The boy sniffed.

"Because you're a crybaby."

The boy's sniffing intensified.

"Having one of these means you're a ninja and ninjas don't cry. Ninjas fight back when they're being bullied and ninjas protect their precious people. Seeing the way you are now, you're far from being a ninja. That's why I can't let you have one." Naruto explained.

After hearing those words, the tears that the little kid had been trying to keep started to rush out into streams that flowed down his chubby cheeks.

"That's too bad. Shiro-chan is always like that. Really, such a big crybaby," his big sister commented. Yuki then turned sharply at her brother. "It's because you're like that that other kids always bully you."

"…"

Shiro suddenly felt some messing and fussing over his head. He was busy rubbing his eyes that he couldn't see who it was. It must probably just his big sister messing with him. She always does that whenever he cries so he was kinda used to it now. However, when the activities stopped, the voice that he heard told him differently.

"Alright! You can open your eyes now."

The boy complied and what came to him caused his face to burst in delight. Naruto was grinning at him, the goggles missing from his forehead. He reached up and touched his own forehead and found the device already sitting there.

"Listen," Naruto began, "you're a ninja now so you can't cry anymore."

Shiro nodded, wiping his tears dry.

"You're a man so stop taking crap from other people. If they mess with you, you gotta give them what they deserve and smack them on the face, even if it's your sister."

"Hey!" Yuki protested in the background while her little brother gave Naruto another nod.

"Also, if other people mess around with your sister or your friends then you give them a good smacking too." At that, Naruto placed a hand over the boy's head and gave his green hair a good shaking. "Protecting your precious people, that's the way of the ninja. Remember it." He finished with a smile.

"Umn!" The boy nodded once more. He looked up at Naruto with his face shining in admiration. That little speech moved not only him but also his big sister Yuki and her gang. "Arigatou Evil Ninja oniichan!"

"Hey that was cool of you. That's exactly what I wanted to have for a boyfriend." Yuki said jokingly to the blonde sitting next her. "Say, you wanna go out with me?"

"Blah! Who'd wanna go out with a little runt like you?" Naruto snorted at the little girl.

"How rude!" Yuki huffed in mock anger. She then pressed her undeveloped chest in a completely vain attempt to create a 'valley' from her perfectly flat breasts. "Can't you see my womanly charms?"

"Yeah right."

The slight redness in his cheeks was a dead give away of the embarrassment the boy was trying to hide with that indifferent attitude. Seeing that, Yuki continued on her teasing. "You don't have to hide it." Without warning, she threw herself up and hugged the eleven-year-old playfully around the neck.

"Dammit! Get off me!"

Everyone was having a good laugh that time watching Naruto's reactions while Yuki continued tormenting him. Unfortunately, the fun didn't last long as a sudden interruption came when the kids heard their parents call.

"Yuki-chan! Shiro-chan! We're going home!"

"Coming 'kaasan!" Yuki called back, getting herself off Naruto and proceeding to grab her brother's arm before making a run towards their mother who, along with three other housewives, was waiting at the playground's entrance. The other kids, too, got off their respective perches and went to their parents who came to fetch them.

"Bye Evil Ninja oniichan!" Shiro called out, waving energetically. "Let's play again tomorrow!"

"Hey, next time let's go out on a date!"

"Just go!"

"Bleh. Bye bye!" Yuki stuck her tongue at Naruto one last time before allowing herself to be led away by her mother.

Naruto was left there waving goodbye at the kids. Then something suddenly came to him. That time back then was also around sunset. He was standing alone in the playground. After spending the whole day playing with his friends their family had finally come to take them home. Shikamaru and Chouji was with their fathers while Kiba, with Akamaru slumped over his head, was fetched by his mother. He could still hear Kiba's complaining and Chouji munching on the new bag of chips his father brought with him. Standing there was all he could do as he watched the fleeting backs of those people happily walking home with their family while he was left there, all alone.

"…it's the same… even here…"

* * *

'Man, thanks to those brats I didn't get to sightsee much.' Naruto complained while on his way back to the hotel that night. Realizing how much he'd missed, all that the boy could do was heave a sigh. 'I wasted such a good chance and tomorrow we'll be heading home. Damn, I'm surely going to regret this.' 

Checking his pockets, he was able to dig out fifty ryou, still enough for one decent meal. "I guess I'll go have my ramen first. Itachi-sensei can wait until later." With that said, Naruto went on a search for one of those cheap back alley ramen carts. As he soon as made a turn on the next corner he bumped into someone and fell down with his butt crashing on the cold street, his second for the day.

"Hey! Watch where you're going you dum—!"

"Are you alright, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto was left momentarily speechless. He certainly didn't expect meeting her anytime sooner and certainly not in place like this. "Chitose-neechan?"


End file.
